


Adventures of a She-Wolf: Return of the Queen

by HypatiaTheGunslinger



Series: Adventures of a She-Wolf [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed (TV), Forever Knight, Highlander: The Series, Kindred: The Embraced, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Wolf Lake
Genre: Adventure, Gen, Slayers, Vampires, Werewolves, White Wolf - Freeform, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 17:51:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 67,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8023372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HypatiaTheGunslinger/pseuds/HypatiaTheGunslinger
Summary: As if it wasn't hard enough being a teenager. This girl has two destinies and a very unique family. X-Over Wolf Lake, Highlander, BtVS, Kindred, Charmed & others.





	1. A New Day, A New Home

**Prologue**

**_Sunnydale, California 2000_ **

The heart-monitor sounded a long high-pitched tone as the girl attached to it flatlined. Immediately, a cadre of doctors surrounded the once ultra-powerful young woman in an attempt to save her life. The Slayer had been in a coma for nearly five months now. None of the code team knew who she really was or that her current condition was a result of a run-in with her supposed "sister-slayer." That was except for the nurse who rushed to the telephone as soon as the girl recovered a steady heartbeat.

Across the ocean, a wiry young man entered his employer's office warily. The old man sat at his desk, waiting expectantly. "Well?"

"Our plant in Sunnydale General just confirmed it, sir. Faith died at 2:24 AM Mountain Time." the younger man stuttered.

"Excellent."

"But Mr. Travers, sir..." he stammered.

"Yes?" Quentin Travers prompted. When his subordinate did not reply, the Head of the Watchers Council became very annoyed. "Well, speak up man!"

"There are a few slight problems, sir." The young Watcher replied.

"Such as?"

"The doctors were able to revive Faith, sir. She's still in a coma but she is very much alive."

"Is that all, Harold?" Travers smiled. "No matter. If she ever awakens, we'll deal with her then. Just tell the plant to continue her vigil over the rogue. All that matters is that we have a new Slayer and she's all ours. All we have to do is find out who she is and get a Watcher on her immediately, if she doesn't already have one."

"Bbbbbut that's the other problem, sir." Harold was beginning to sweat. "We already know who the next Slayer is, and she definitely has a Watcher."

"So what is all this fuss about? That's wonderful news." Travers retorted. His assistant's spineless nature was becoming very annoying of late.

"It's Pierson's girl, sir."

Travers nearly spit out the brandy he'd been drinking. "Not... Adam Pierson's charge?" The Head Watcher took another great swallow of brandy, paling. "And there is no chance of a reconciliation? The girl won't take a different Watcher?"

"I believe his exact words were, 'After hell freezes over, and the Four Horsemen ride again,' sir. And I doubt the girl would leave his care, he is her father, for all intents and purposes." Harold replied sullenly.

"Well, Bugger."

* * *

 

_San Francisco, California 2004_

Paige Matthews was bored. She had recently moved in with her boyfriend, Richard, but he was away on some kind of ominous-sounding "family business." Her sister Phoebe was in Hong Kong on a "trial run" before moving there to be with her current steady, Jason. Eldest sister, Piper, was finishing up some business at her club "P3" and ex-brother-in-law Leo was off somewhere doing whatever single Elders do. This all left Paige as the defacto babysitter for Piper's son, Wyatt.

Not that Paige didn't love spending time with her adorable little nephew. But she'd already fed, burped, and put the baby to sleep. There hadn't been one demon attack on the Manor in days and the temp agency she worked for currently had no open positions anywhere in the Bay Area. It sucked. The young witch was reduced to memorizing passages in the Book of Shadows until the phone finally rang.

Paige rushed down the stairs in time to pick it up on the third ring. She caught her breath and spoke cheerfully into the mouthpiece, "Hello, Halliwell residence, this is Paige speaking."

The person on the other end of the line sounded no less out of breath. "Are Prue, Piper, or Phoebe Halliwell there, please?"

Paige's brow furrowed at the mention of the deceased Halliwell sister, but she shrugged it off. "No they aren't, but I could take a message. Or maybe I could help you, I'm their..."

The woman on the other end cut Paige off, her voice obviously a bit panicked. "Look, could you just tell them that Deirdre is coming to town? I should be there in about two days and a really need their help. Tell them it's a family emergency. They'll understand. I have to go now."

Paige began to reply but was cut off yet again, this time by the dial tone. "Well, it was nice talking to you, too."

Just then, her Whitelighter, Chris, decided to materialize right behind her, followed quickly by Leo. "Hey."

Paige nearly jumped ten feet into the air. She screamed, "Don't do that! It's bad enough that I'm all alone in this house!"

Leo shushed Paige. "Is Wyatt asleep?"

"Yeah, I put him down a while ago."

Leo headed up the stairs to Wyatt's room. Chris sighed. "So did anything happen while we were gone? Any demon attacks or weird curses I should be aware of?"

Paige smiled at the boy, thinking he must be just as bored as she. "No, nothing like that. I did get this really weird phone call though. Some woman asking for Piper, Phoebe, and Prue, of all people. Guess she didn't know Prue's gone."

"Hmm." Leo replied as he came down the stairs cradling a blurry eyed, Wyatt. "Did she give a name?"

"Deirdre... Ring any bells?"

Leo went wide eyed for a moment before replying. "Did she say anything else?"

Paige shrugged. "She said she'd be in town in a couple of days and that she needed their help. Said it was some kind of 'family emergency'. I don't exactly know what that means out of our own context. Why? Do you know her?"

Leo nodded. "She's your cousin."

"Cousin? I didn't even now I had a cousin. How do I have a cousin?"

Leo handed Wyatt over to Chris. "You should ask Piper that when she gets home. I'll go get Phoebe. Then, I'll orb up. If it's an emergency with Deirdre, then I'm going to haveta consult the other Elders. This could mean real trouble."

And with that, Leo disappeared, leaving two confused half-Whitelighter, half-witches in his wake.

Twenty minutes later, The Charmed Ones were assembled in the living room of Halliwell Manor surrounded by Leo, Chris, and Wyatt. Paige told them all about the mysterious phone call and asked about the woman, who was apparently their cousin.

"Gramms had two sons along with Mom." Phoebe explained. "I think she had them with her second husband. Anyways, when Gramms divorced him, the boys went with their father. She never saw them again. Gramms didn't like to talk about them much. Deirdre is the daughter of our oldest uncle, Seth."

Paige looked confused. "If Gramms never saw her sons again, how do you know Deirdre is our cousin?"

Piper shrugged. "Gramms told us she heard that Seth got married and had a little girl with his wife. He walked out on them a few years later. Seth's wife, Gloria knew that Gramms would want to meet her granddaughter, so she brought Deirdre here to San Fransisco to live. Gloria remarried and divorced again but she and Deirdre always kept in touch with our family."

"Okay." Chris replied, pointing to Leo, "But why were you so alarmed when Paige told you she called? Why'd we have to drag Phoebe back here from Hong Kong?"

Leo turned to Piper. "Do you want to tell them the rest of the story?"

Piper and Phoebe exchanged a look before Piper nodded. Phoebe gestured to the couches in the living room. "You guys had better sit down this could take a while."

"You'd better go, Phoebs. Jason might get worried. One of us will come get you when Deedee arrives." Piper reasoned. "I can tell them." Phoebe nodded and was quickly spirited away by Leo.

Piper sat down took Wyatt, who was now sleeping away from Chris. She sat down next to Paige and said, "Everybody settled in? Good. Cause, barring any demon attacks, this could take all night."

* * *

  **Chapter 1: A New Day, A New Home**

_**San Francisco, California 2001** _

Deirdre Pierson waited silently on the front stoop of the house she'd grown up in. She felt a surreal calm that she didn't quite understand, considering her mother had died just two days before. The large covered birdcage at her feet russled a bit, as if to comfort the seventeen year old. Deirdre smiled a bit. At least she wasn't totally alone in the world.

The judge had ruled that until her father could be reached, Deirdre was to stay with her only living blood relatives in the state. She knew that her cousins were a bit reluctant to take her in. The Halliwell sisters really didn't have much room for an extra person even though they owned a pretty large Manor left to them by her Gramms. *This would all be so much easier if they just let me stay in my own house* she thought. After all, Deirdre didn't need to go to school or anything. She'd passed the GED at 15, knew five languages fluently, and several semi-fluently.

Honestly, Deirdre was fully capable of taking care of herself. Even her Dad thought so. In truth, Deirdre knew exactly where her adoptive father/ Watcher was. She had called him in Paris the day her mother was murdered. He had agreed to let her stay in San Fransisco in order to do her job as the Slayer. The teenager hadn't counted on being yanked out of her home by the local judicial system. Now she was sitting, waiting to be picked up by one of her cousins, because evidently, they didn't feel comfortable with her riding her motorcycle over to their house.

As if on cue, a car rolled up into her driveway. A woman with dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes stepped out. She smiled. "Hey, kiddo."

"Hey, Prue." Deirdre responded, half-heartedly. She picked up the cage while Prue took her suitcase and put it in the car.

"Is this all you're bringing?" Prue asked softly. Deirdre nodded. The older woman smiled. "And who's this?" she asked, indicating the cage.

"That's Horus, my pet bird." Deirdre replied, putting the cage in the back seat of the car before getting in the passenger seat. Prue got in the driver's side, and they were off across town to Halliwell Manor.

Back at the Manor, Phoebe and Piper were readying everything for their cousin's arrival. Phoebe had agreed to room with Deedee, as she affectionately called the girl, for the duration of her stay. She had moved a spare mattress down from the attic and was making room in the upstairs bathroom for an extra person. Piper was downstairs cooking up a storm. Her husband Leo materialized behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist, making her jump. "God! Don't do that!"

The Whitelighter just smiled softly. "So, how go the preparations?"

Piper grunted irratably. She fidgeted with some fresh basil, trying to keep her hands busy so as not to blow up anything. "What are we doing? We don't have room for another person! You just moved in!"

Leo rubbed her shoulders, trying to calm his wife. "Calm down, Piper."

"I know... I know she's family and I know she needs us. But what are we gonna do Leo? It's bad enough trying to keep our secret from the neighbors, but someone in our own house? This is just too much! And...you know...where the hell is her step-father? What is he doing gallavanting around Europe when his daughter needs him?"

"Honey, you're ranting. Now, just take a deep breath and calm down." Leo murmered soothingly. "Prue is going to be back with Deirdre any minute, and this is not the kind of behavior that goes over well with the grieving."

Just then they heard Prue's car horn warning Piper and Phoebe that they were coming in. Phoebe rushed down the stairs, eager to see her new roomie. She almost ran head-long into her boyfriend as he appeared before her on the stair-landing. He chuckled a bit as she tried to regain her balance. "What's your rush?"

"Cole! Be careful! I told you my cousin's coming here to live with us. She is coming up the driveway as we speak, and she doesn't know anything about us being you-know-whats. That means from now on, you need to use the door." Cole sneered a bit and followed Phoebe down the stairs to greet the girl now standing in the entryway.

Deirdre Pierson could be considered quite lovely when it came down to it. Tall for her age, the girl had inherited her long legs from Gloria, who had made a small fortune as a ballet dancer. Deirdre was muscular and lithe, with piercing green eyes. But her natural beauty was masked by her chosen style of dress. The teenager looked to be the essence of punk rock. She wore knee-high black, combat boots with steal toes and green fatigue pants. Her chestnut colored hair was cut short, spiked, streaked with platinum, and pulled away from her face with a dark green bandana. She'd opted for a black Ramones t-shirt with the sleeves cut off and had topped off the whole ensemble with a dark green duster jacket with the insignia of a wolf on the back.

Phoebe ran up to her cousin and threw her arms around the girl. "Heya roomie! How are you?"

"Quickly developing an oxygen issue." Deirdre coughed out, prompting the older woman to release her. "It's good to see you too, Phoebe."

After a long awkward silence, Prue decided she'd had enough. "Okay, it looks like some introductions are in order. Piper, why don't you start?"

"Oh, well, Leo, this is Deirdre. Deirdre, this is my husband Leo." Piper said, gesturing to the man beside her. Leo held out his hand to the girl. "It's very nice to meet you."

The teenager gently sent down the birdcage she was still holding in order to shake the man's hand. "Nice to meet you too. My Mom...she told me Piper had gotten married. I'm sorry I haven't visited lately."

Leo nodded and there was another awkward silence before Phoebe grabbed Cole's arm and dragged him forward. "And this is my man. Cole, Deedee. Deedee, Cole"

As they wordlessly shook hands, the tension between the new acquiantances shot through the roof. They sized each other up for a full minute before letting go of each other's hands. Cole turned back around to Phoebe, she mouthed the words "be nice" prompting him to turn back to the girl and lean down to help her with her luggage. "Here let me get that for you."

Cole reached for the bird cage at the same time Deirdre did. "No, that's okay. I've got it."

"It looks heavy. I can take it upstairs for you." Cole replied, wrenching the cage away from Deirdre. With this action, the cage tipped over, tumbling across the floor. A very agitated, very large bird of prey flew out from under the cage's covering and straight into his face. The bird attacked the former-demon momentarily and then flew out of the parlor.

"What the hell is that?!" Piper shrieked mimicking the shock of all the adults in the room.

"Great!" Deirdre cried. "This is all I need!" She removed a heavy leather glove from her pocket and rushed into the living room, trailing the rest of the Manor's occupants behind her. She put it on, and rounded the couch quickly, whistling to the bird. The falcon obeyed, alighting on the glove. "It's ok, Horus. You're okay now."

"Whoa, hello!" Phoebe yelled. "What is that?"

"It's a falcon. What does it look like?" Deirdre replied, annoyed. "And he's pretty upset now, thanks to your boyfriend."

Cole, wiping the blood from a scratch on his face, looked about to comment before Prue cut him off. "I think what she means is, what is a falcon doing in the house? Aren't they illegal to keep as pets?"

"I was going to set up his house in the garden if that's ok with you guys. I have special permission from the state to keep him." Deirdre replied, petting the bird.

The sisters shared a consulting glance before Piper replied. "Ok, but he does not get into this house. Got it?"

"Got it." Deirdre nodded. With that, the group settled in to have dinner. Supper came off without a hitch but the tension in the house hadn't abated much. Piper was careful to seat Deirdre and Cole as far away from each other as possible. She sensed something malevolent being passed between them. Maybe the girl was able to sense that Cole was a demon. *Wouldn't that be a kick in the pants.* she thought.

After dinner, Phoebe said goodbye to her beau. Giving him a kiss, she reiterated to him to "Be nice." Deirdre helped Piper clean the dishes and got Horus sitauted in his cage. She left the door to the enclosure slightly ajar and went up to unpack. Prue made sure the attic was all locked up 'just in case.' Then, it was time for the occupants of Halliwell Manor to get ready for bed.

That night, Phoebe was awoken out of one of the few deep sleeps she'd managed to achieve in weeks by a russling in the darkness. She pretended to be asleep as she watched the silohette of her cousin move around the room. From what the older woman could make out, Deirdre was fully dressed and donning her coat. The teenager paused for a second, trying to determine if Phoebe was awake. The witch was too good at playing opposum, though. Deirdre finished dressing and grabbed her falconer's glove off the night stand. She then opened the bedroom window and, to Phoebe's shock, jumped out landing softly on the ground outside, two stories below.

As soon as she was sure her cousin was far enough away, Phoebe ventured to look out the window. Deirdre was wheeling her motorcycle down the driveway, having had it delivered just after dinner. She'd promised only to ride it with the permission of her cousins. Horus, who had been perched on one of the tree branches, flew down and glided through the air, trailing after his mistress.

Phoebe sat for a while, trying to decide whether or not to wake her sisters. Eventually, she decided to let the incident go. After all, Deedee had been through a tragedy, she was entitled to a little rebellion. Besides, it wasn't like Phoebe herself had never snuck out of that very room as a girl.


	2. Meetings of All Kinds

The Slayer waited in line to enter the club, impatiently. She'd secured her bike in the alley alongside the known Kindred hangout, and left Horus to watch over it. Deirdre had already made her rounds of the local cemeteries and demon haunts. Two vampires and one butt-ugly Chaos demon had bitten the dust in Chinatown. Other than that, no dice. Now she had to take care of her last pressing business of the night before patrolling Angel Island, and returning to her new home to crash for the day.

The bouncer at the door to The Haven looked suspiciously back and forth between the Slayer and her fake ID before waving her in. She scanned the dimly lit interior of the club for a few moments before spotting her query. As the Slayer crossed the dance floor to the line of booths at the back of The Haven, she was keenly aware of the dozens of pairs of eyes following her progress. She smiled ironically at the thought.

The man she sought was sitting in one of the posh booths, flanked on one side by an elegant looking brunette and on the other by a striking redhead. The redhead, whose hands were clasped in those of a second man (obviously an armed guard of some sort) gave off a kind of vibe that unsettled the Slayer. For the time being, however, the teenager chose to ignore this in favor of the older man. As she approached the booth, almost simultaneously, all of it's occupants ceased conversation to look at her. The guard's hand immediately slid inside his jacket, undoubtedly where his gun was holstered. Both the older man and the redhead shook their heads, stilling him. The Slayer's query gave her a prompting look.

"Julian Luna?" she asked, knowing full well who he was.

"I'm Luna. How can I help you?" The Prince of the City replied, taking note of the tinge of a British accent to the girl's voice.

"I'm Deirdre Pierson. I believe we have an appointment?"

Recognition washed over the Prince's face. "Of course, Ms. Pierson. "

"Is there somewhere we might talk in private?"

Luna leaned over to whisper to his brunette companion before rising from the booth. The guard attempted to rise but Luna again raised a hand. "It's alright, Cash. Why don't you check on our drinks? Nicoli's been lagging at the bartending lately." The Prince held out his arm for Deirdre to take and led her up the nearby staircase leading to the rooms on the building's second floor.

When the Prince was out of earshot, Cash seethed to the redhead beside him. "Do you realize who that was? I can't believe he's going up there alone with her, and not taking any back-up!.

The brunette answered him, "Julian's a big boy, Cash. He can take care of himself."

As she stroked his arm, the redhead piped in, "Lillie's right, Cash. Besides, the Slayer doesn't Hunt our kind. And even if she did, I'm sure she wouldn't be stupid enough to come in here to do it."

Cash huffed a bit before getting up and trudging to the bar. The two women scooted closer together. Lillie shook her head, disapprovingly. "Why you still put up with that man is beyond me, Charlie."

"Because he's my Mate, Sire. And besides," Charlie replied, cocking her head to the side as she watched her boyfriend walk away, "he has a really cute butt."

Upstairs, Deirdre was led into a lavishly decorated parlor. She took the chair offered to her by her host. Julian Luna sat down in one of the apposing chaises."So, what, may I ask, brings the Slayer into my Elysium?"

"I came to discuss the arrangement my mother made with you upon our arrival in San Francisco."

"Ah, yes. The treaty." He replied, "Quite a forceful negotiator, your mother. How is she, if you don't mind my asking?"

The Slayer's emerald eyes grew stormy. "She's dead, sir."

The Prince looked properly somber. "I'm sorry." The Ventrue decided to switch subjects quickly. "So, I assume you've come to verify that the truce your mother and I made, between the Kindred and yourself, still stands. You needn't worry. As far as I'm concerned nothing has changed."

"Oh, but it has for me, Mr. Luna." The Slayer replied. At the Kindred Prince's cautionary look, she decided to clarify. "What I mean to say is that I'd like to amend the truce, if possible."

The Ventrue felt naturally suspicious, what with Slayers being the sworn enemies of all so-called 'vampires'. "What kind of amendments, exactly?"

Deirdre took a breath, but was determined to show no outward signs of weakness. "In addition to me not killing any of your people and the Kindred not killing any humans, I thought it'd be mutually beneficial if we worked together somewhat."

Off Luna's look, the Slayer continued. "What I propose is this... If I should happen upon any Kindred violating your Masquerade by killing, instead of killing him myself, I will personally bring him to you to be dealt with."

"And in return?" Julian prompted.

"In return, you will notify me if you hear about any demon or demonic vampire activity within your Domain. That's all I ask."

The Prince contemplated this for a moment before nodding. "That sounds quite reasonable to me, Ms. Pierson. Very well, we have an accord."

The Slayer took the Prince's hand as the shook on the agreement.

Meanwhile, down in the club, Cash was trying to get the attention of the busy bartender when he was broadsided by two of his own. His brood-sister, Lorraina, approached him practically dragging a younger Gangrel by the collar. Cash raised an eyebrow."What's up, Lor?"

"Will you deal with your brat, Cash? Ever since he saw that chick walk in, he's been talking my ear off! I have enough trouble dealing with my own Brood, let alone getting saddled with yours!"

The Gangrel Primogen chuckled a bit and took the boy's arm. He watched his annoyed clan-mate walk off in a huff in the opposite direction. He regarded the sheepish looking kid that stood before him. Hunter was Cash's favorite Childe. Hell, he was Cash's only Childe. The Gangrel Primogen had picked the ragged looking boy off the streets years ago, during a time when Gangrel Clan had been granted Free Embrace by the Prince. Cash had his pick of potential Childer but he had chosen only one in all that time. Though he dearly loved the fledgeling, Cash knew that Hunter had a tendency to get on people's nerves. He was always questioning things to try and fit in better, and was still as attached to his Sire as a Gangrel could get. Cash attributed all this to Hunter's abandonment by his birth-parents. The kid had grown up on the streets without ever having a family to call his own.

The older man huffed facetiously. "So what was all that about? What's this fascination you have with the girl?"

Hunter sheepishly refused to meet his Sire's gaze. "I just wanted to know who she was. I saw her walk in, and I don't know what happened. I felt drawn to her somehow. It was really weird."

Cash gave him a weird look. "You were drawn to her?"

"Well...yeah. I mean she's beautiful! Didn't you see her? Anyway, Lorraina told me to stay away from her, that she's the Slayer. Is that true?"

"You bet your ass it's true. Look, Hunter I want you to be careful of that one. Slayers are just as strong as Kindred and they kill anything they perceive as remotely vampiric or demonic. This one supposedly has a truce with the Prince, but that doesn't mean she isn't dangerous. I'm not gonna tell you to stay away from her, cause I know you. But... just watch your back, ok?" Cash concluded solemnly.

"Yes, Sire." Hunter agreed. But his Sire's warning was all but wiped from his mind as he saw the girl in question descend the staircase, followed by the Prince. As Cash went to confer with Julian, Hunter couldn't stop himself from following the Slayer out of The Haven and into the nearby alley.

Hunter rounded the corner into the alley. Before he could tell what hit him, the Gangrel's back was slammed hard against the brick wall on the outside of The Haven. His throat felt like it was being crushed and he was staring into a pair of dangerously cool emerald eyes. "Why are you following me, Kindred?"

When the answer came in the form of a wet wheeze, Deirdre dropped the struggling Gangrel. He coughed a bit before staring up at her, then stood up again. The Slayer had her hands on her hips and a look on her face that meant business. "Well?"

"I...Well, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to have a cup of coffee with me." Hunter answered hesitantly. He was a bit dizzy both from the near asphyxia and the intoxicating smell of the Slayer.

For her part, Deirdre stood there in shock. A boy, no, a vampire, had just asked her out. It was the most absurd thing she'd ever heard, and yet, she felt strangely drawn to the creature before her. "You're asking me on a date?"

"Yes. I believe I am." Hunter replied.

"Do you have any idea who I am?" she asked incredulously.

The Gangrel shrugged, "You're the Slayer." his brow crinkled for a minute. "I'm sorry, I haven't asked your name. Mine's Hunter by the way."

"Deirde," she replied, her eyebrows locked into her hairline. "So, you know who I am...and you still want to go out with me?"

"Well...yeah."

Deirdre was convinced he was insane. He didn't seem the slightest bit afraid of her. Most creatures of the night, as well as most boys, tended to avoid Deirdre Pierson. Nonetheless there was something about his man. He looked a few years older than the Slayer herself, but one could hardly tell with Kindred. He had curly honey blonde hair and gorgeous blue eyes. But something more was drawing her to him. It felt like a magnetic pull between them. She briefly entertained the idea that it was some kind of thrall, but quickly abandoned the notion. *Maybe it's the smell.* Deirdre thought. He smelt amazing. After a bit of contemplation, Deirdre decided to abandon all logic. "Okay. Why not?"

It was Hunter's turn to look incredulous. "Really?"

"Yeah, I mean it's only my life, right. One Slayer dies, the next is Called. Yadda, yadda, yadda. I might as well live while I'm young." Hunter cracked a big grin and began to lead her toward his motorcycle.

"Wait." she said, "I gotta make my rounds on Angel Island first."

"Okay, I'll go with you."

Deirdre whistled, bringing Horus to alight on her arm. "You can go home now, old friend. I have someone here to watch my back. So, you can have tonight off."

The bird sqwawked a bit before flying off in the direction of Halliwell Manor. Deirdre mounted her own bike and gestured to Hunter to follow her. The pair rode out of the alley and into the night.

Several hours later, the Slayer and her new beau rode up the hill to the her new domicile. It was nearing dawn and both would have to be inside soon. Deirdre rolled her bike silently into the garage and turned to address Hunter. "So."

"So."

"I...had a really great time tonight."

"Well, I'm glad. Then...I'll see you again soon?" Hunter replied.

Deirdre nodded, feeling a bit shy all of the sudden. "Definitely."

"Good." The Gangrel smiled. Then, he leaned in and kissed the Slayer thoroughly.

Deirdre felt weak in the knees and every other cliche in the book. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed Hunter back as best she could before he pulled away.

Hunter took a dramatic bow, backing away gallantly before mounting his bike and riding off. The Slayer's legs still felt a bit wobbly as she rounded the house to the tree she'd have to scale to get back through her cousin's window. Horus sat on one of the branches and skwawked at her on her way up. She glared at her pet and whispered in a harsh voice. "I know. I know. I've gone completely insane. There, I said it, okay?"

Deirdre climbed the rest of the way into the room. She verified that Phoebe was still sleeping before undressing and climbing into bed. In truth, the witch was playing opposum, and could only shake her head at the girl before falling back into a deep, Cole-filled sleep.


	3. And So, It Begins

After a month of Deirdre sneaking out every night and arriving back at dawn every morning, Phoebe decided that the teenager had probably had enough rebellion. Of course this may have been influenced a bit by the fact that Prue and Piper had caught their cousin scaling the tree outside Phoebe's window after Vanquishing a demon in the near vicinity. Luckily for the Charmed Ones, Deirdre didn't seem to notice.

Currently, the Halliwell sisters were sitting in a semicircle around their cousin the morning after the incident. The disinterested looking girl was sitting on the living room couch listening to Piper's rantings and Prue's rational scoldings. For her part, Phoebe tried as best she could to defend Deirdre while still maintaining a firm tone. "Look, Deedee, what we're trying to say is that we know you've been through a lot in the last few weeks, but San Francisco is a dangerous city. We don't want you to get hurt."

Piper glared at her sister "That is sooo not what we are talking about! We're talking about discipline and following the house rules and..."

Prue cut her off with a clearing of the throat. "Piper and Phoebe both make good points. Sneaking out puts you at risk, and it makes us feel like you don't respect us and how we run our home. So from now on, you will be sleeping in my room. It doesn't have a tree outside the window."

Deirdre looked incredulous. "Oh, please! You're telling me I'm being policed now? You've got to be kidding!"

"We just don't want you to get hurt." Phoebe reiterated.

"Don't even try it, Phoebs." The teenager countered, accenting the name in a mocking tone. "You've known about me sneaking out for weeks. So, don't give me that crap. Besides, I've been banging around both London and San Francisco since I was twelve. And London is much worse. I can take care of myself!"

Piper and Prue simultaneously turned to face their sister. Piper scowled at her. "Phoebe, what is she talking about?"

Before Phoebe could answer, Deirdre stood up and started for the door. "That's it. I'm outta here."

Before the three sister's could do anything but shout at her, the girl rushed out the door and was riding away on her motorcycle a moment later. Piper was tempted to Freeze her but couldn't get a clear shot. She spun on her heel to face Phoebe. "You knew?! You knew she was sneaking out and you didn't do anything?"

"Piper's right. You should have told us Phoebs." Prue insisted.

"Her mother died, you guys! She's entitled to act out a bit! I never thought it would go this far. Besides, I knew you guys would freak out if I told you!" Phoebe reached to pick up the morning newspaper off the table and was hit with a Premonition.

Prue and Piper immediately shut-up. Prue regarded her sister with concern. "What did you see?

"A woman in a park...It was night so I couldn't make out any landmarks. She was being attacked by a demon, maybe more than one. From what I could see, it was damn ugly, too." Phoebe concluded.

Prue nodded. "Could you tell what time it was?"

The younger woman shook her head. "All I could tell was that it'll happen sometime tonight."

"Ok, Phoebe, you go up and check the Book of Shadows. Piper, get the potion supplies ready." Both sisters nodded. Piper's brow furrowed. "What are we gonna do about Deirdre?"

"We'll deal with her later. Right now, we've got an Innocent to save."

Later that evening, the Charmed Ones had been to just about every park in the Bay area. Phoebe had found the demon in question in the Book of Shadows. It was a lower level demon called a Kalerio. Not much was listed on its weaknesses other than its relatively bad eyesight. Piper had made a generic vanquishing potion and the Charmed Ones had gone out after their query. After a few hours, the sisters hadn't encountered any demons or their Innocent. They were wandering through a remote area of Golden Gate Park when the conversation turned back to Deirdre.

"I still can't believe you didn't tell us!" Piper scolded.

"Could we not start that argument over again?" Phoebe countered.

"Maybe this was a bad idea." Prue interjected. "I should have just let Deirdre stay at her house."

Piper shook her head. "No Prue, you did the right thing. Besides, the judge ruled that she should stay with us. She's not old enough to be on her own."

"Yeah, she's family." Phoebe confirmed. "You shouldn't blame yourself. And hey, look at the bright side, the Manor has only been attacked once in the entire time she's been staying with us."

Before anything else could be said on the subject, a feminine scream sounded out in the darkness. Phoebe pointed to a line of trees nearby. "It came from over there."

When they arrived in the vicinity of their Innocent, they realized the problem was much worse than in Phoebe's Premonition. There were at least three Kalerios surrounding the 30ish looking woman. Piper immediately threw the potion at the one farthest from their Innocent. Unfortunately, all it seemed to do is piss the demon off further, and draw his attention toward the sisters. It quickly became apparent that Piper's Freezing power worked only momentarily on the demons and Prue could barely cope with two of the gigantic gnarly Kalerio's at a time. For her part, Phoebe was doing her best to fight off any attacks by putting herself bodily between the demons and her Innocent.

At one point, two of the demons cornered Piper. While Prue went to one sister's aid, the other one was thrown down by the third Kalerio, twisting her ankle, and burying the Innocent beneath her in the process. Phoebe watched in horror as the demon came toward her, it's twisted, branch-like claws pointing toward her throat. The witch closed her eyes in anticipation of a fatal blow. It never came.

Opening her eyes one at a time, Phoebe saw a swoosh of dyed green leather and a glint of metal. It took her a few minutes to register that another fighter had joined the fray. The short, spiky haired warrior was beating back the demon with blows that looked too powerful to be issued from her small frame. She employed a small katana, when she wasn't using her fists on the Kalerio, who happened to be almost twice her size. In an instant before the mystery fighter violently struck down the demon, she turned slightly toward Phoebe. The witch was astonished to see her cousin decapitate the Kalerio. She called out in wonder, "Deedee?!"

The girl didn't even turn to face Phoebe as she headed in Prue and Piper's direction. Deirdre simply shouted. "Run!"

Meanwhile, basically all the other two witches could do was keep the Kalerios at bay by Freezing them and throwing them around. A shrill whistle came from behind them and the fight ceased for a moment as both demons and Charmed Ones turned to discover its source. One of the demons burbled out something. About the only part of it that Piper or Prue could decipher was the word "Slayer."

"Tsk tsk tsk." The Slayer said shaking her head. "Either you boys don't get out a whole lot, or you're thicker than most of your kind. You've invaded my turf and now...you've threatened my family." The Kalerio's started backing away as Deirdre advanced. The teenager withdrew what looked to be a large Chinese fan from inside her duster. Deirdre opened the demure looking fan to reveal it was constructed of knives. "Hell, it looks like I'll just haveta kill you now."

One of the demons turned to run while the other took Prue into a choke-hold. The Slayer threw the fan, catching the retreating Kalerio in the back and bringing him down for the count. She drew out her katana and advanced on the remaining demon. The Kalerio tightened his grip, causing Prue to pass out. Deirdre put two fingers to her lips and whistled. Horus swooped down out of a nearby tree and into the face of the demon, causing him to release Prue.

Piper recovered from her momentary shock at seeing her cousin and pulled her sister out of the battle field. She dragged an unconscious Prue back over to where Phoebe sat, leaving the fight in Deirdre's apparently capable hands. The Innocent had run away as instructed, leaving Phoebe to look helplessly on. Further inspection revealed a large gash on the back of Prue's head where the demon had dropped her. Piper called out for her husband. "Leo! Leo, get down here!"

The Whitelighter appeared in front of her and assessed the situation quickly. He took care of Prue's injury first before tending to Phoebe's ankle. Then he turned to his wife. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little shaken." Piper replied.

"What's happening?" Leo asked when he noticed the fight still going on.

"Don't know." Piper said, shaking her head. "We were outnumbered and then Deirdre appeared out of nowhere and started killing off demon's left and right."

"Any insights, Leo?" Phoebe asked. Prue was beginning to come around.

"I have no idea what's going on." The angel replied.

"Join the club." the oldest Charmed One interjected. "It looks like our little Deedee could use our help."

However, as soon as the words had left her mouth, Prue caught sight of yet another contender for the Slayer's attention. A huge Timber Wolf jumped out of the bushes behind the Kalerio, sinking it's fangs into the demon's forearm. This caused the Kalerio to release the death grip it'd managed to get around Deirdre's middle. The demon howled and threw off the animal, sending him rolling head over foot. The creature seemed to transform as it rolled, the end result was a very feral looking young man clad in a leather bomber jacket and jeans, poised to attack. Deirdre instantly recovered, slicing away at the demon with her katana and calling, "What are you doing here?"

"You were late." the boy replied. "Figured you got caught up and you could use the help."

"Well, in that case." Deirdre replied, hitting the Kalerio with a nasty looking upper-cut. "What the hell took you so long?"

Hunter just shrugged and rushed back into the fight. At this point, the Charmed Ones tired of watching and decided to rejoin the fight. Piper assumed she couldn't get a straight shot at the Kalerio and simply Froze all three brawlers. Or so she thought. While the boy-who-had-been-wolf Freezed completely, and the demon did so momentarily, Deirdre didn't seem to be effected at all by the witch's power. This, coupled with the Slayer's tunnel-vision style of fighting, left the demon open to a quick down stroke of the sword which resulted in his head rolling all the way to Prue's feet. After regaining her composure, Deirdre went to her companion who was still frozen. She waved a hand in front of the boy's face, mystified. "What the hell?"

"Our sentiments exactly." Phoebe retorted as the Charmed Ones walked out of the shadows.

Deirdre fell back into battle stance, quickly reassessing her surroundings. The girl regarded her cousins, looking back and forth between them and the boy next to her. "You did this," she surmised. "What the hell are you?"

"We could ask you the same question." Prue said crossing her arms across her chest but making no move to near the defensive girl. "What are you doing fighting demons?"

Deirdre sneered. "My job."

Leo decided to defuse the situation. "Look this has all been one big misunderstanding."

"I sure as hell hope so." Deirdre hissed. "I'd hate to think my dear cousins were purposefully Hunting on my turf."

"Your turf? What is that supposed to mean?"

Piper didn't get an answer as Deirdre was distracted by the simultaneous revival of her boyfriend and a loud screeching coming from Horus. Both companions followed the bird's line of vision to see that the third Kalerio, formerly taken for dead, was running away with Deirdre's fan still embedded in its back.

"Damn." they exclaimed at the same time. Deirdre whistled to Horus who went flying in the Kalerio's direction. She turned to her cousins only long enough to shout, "Another time, then."

The Slayer and the shape-shifter ran for the motorcycle that was parked nearby and rode off after the demon, leaving a very confused set of Charmed Ones and an equally perplexed Whitelighter in their wake.

Phoebe was the first to recover from the shock, commenting only somewhat sarcastically, "Well, that went well."


	4. Destinies and Daddy

"May I just be the first to say this? What the hell just happened?" Piper inquired as soon as they got back to the Manor.

"I dunno." Phoebe said, plopping onto the living room couch. "That whole event gave me a headache."

They'd all decided it was best just to go home after the fight in the park. Leo had gone straight to the kitchen when he got in, to fix tea for his charges. The Charmed Ones congregated in the living room, trying to take in all they'd witnessed during the course of the evening.

Apparently, the innocent little cousin they'd all made such a fuss about protecting earlier in the day, wasn't so innocent after all. In fact, she was some sort of teenaged demon-hunter. Prue decided to bring down the Book of Shadows to see if it had any incite into Deirdre's weird behavior.

"She said it was her job." Piper interjected into the silence that filled the room after Leo had brought the tea in. He'd sat down next to his wife and was currently rubbing her tense shoulders as she talked.

"When Prue asked her what she was doing fighting demons, Deirdre said she was doing her job. Not having fun, or protecting the Innocent, just doing her job."

Her eldest sister nodded, "That's probably important, but why would it be the job of an innocent young girl to hunt and kill demons?"

"We're assuming she is an Innocent. We've met demons that hunt other demons. She could be evil and we just didn't know it." Piper said somberly.

"Wait a minute," Phoebe said, "That demon called her something... Something that made it afraid of her. What was it?"

"I heard it too, but I couldn't make it out." Prue replied. "It was something like...sailor? No, that can't be right. Why would a demon be afraid of a seafarer?"

"It was Slayer." Piper blurted out, recognition showing on her face.

Leo looked surprised. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I couldn't make out the rest of what the demon said but the last word was definitely 'Slayer'. Why? Does that ring a bell?"

Leo let out a sigh. "Yeah it does."

"So she's really evil then?" Phoebe asked, looking unhappy.

"No, actually she's not. If she is the Slayer, I mean. Slayers are warriors for good." Leo informed them.

"What do you know about them?" Prue asked.

"Not a lot. Slayers aren't my area of expertise. Being a Whitelighter, I generally only deal with things that concern witches and other Whitelighters. You might check the book." he replied. "I'll orb up and see what I can find out."

"Already on it." Phoebe cried, elated that her cousin wasn't evil.

She'd pulled the Book of Shadows into her lap as soon as the word 'Slayer' was mentioned and was now furiously flipping through it. Leo kissed Piper and then disappeared in a flurry of glowing light. When she finally landed on something promising, Phoebe beckoned to her sisters. "You guys."

The page Phoebe had turned to was headed Slayer. The words "The Chosen One" were in quotes below it. The writing itself looked old enough to date back to their ancestor Melinda Warren, who had started the book and founded their line. Next to the flowing script of the text was a picture of a young woman, no more than 18 or 19, holding a hatchet in one hand, and a sharpened stake in the other. She was dressed in the same sort of garb that Melinda had worn when her spirit had visited the Charmed Ones. But for the picture, the text on the Slayer filled two whole pages of the Book of Shadows. This entry, they realized was very likely written by Melinda herself.

"In Every Generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the demons, vampires and forces of darkness...She is the Slayer." Phoebe read aloud. "Slayers are warriors Chosen by the powers of good to protect the world of man from the world that surrounds it. There has only ever been one slayer alive at any one point in time. When one Slayer dies, the next is Called to take her place in battle. Because of the nature of their duty to mankind, Slayers rarely live more than a few years after being Called, which usually happens in the beginning to middle of their teen years. From what I've been told, the eldest Slayer to date lived only into her twenty-second year."

When Phoebe trailed off at this news, Prue picked up the book and continued to read. "The Slayer is generally a solitary creature. Often taken into training from birth, the Slayer is allowed neither the comfort of family or friends, nor a lover's caring touch, lest she be tempted away from her goal. The Slayer's only companion is her Watcher. A Watcher is charged with the guidance, training, keeping, and protection of the Slayer. This continues from the time she is taken into training until the Slayer is put to rest. Not much is to be known about the Watchers as a people, but that they are traditionally common human-beings, and are most regularly men."

Prue handed the book off to Piper to read the last bit. "As she is a warrior of the Light, the Slayer possesses enhanced physical strength, speed, agility and bearing. Though Slayers themselves have no other traditional magical powers, their life-force itself is possessed of a certain magical quality that is not to be denied. If you are fortunate enough to encounter a Slayer, bear yourself kindly. The Slayer can be a powerful ally or a powerful enemy and needs must be respected."

Piper sighed deeply, both relieved to find that Deirdre wasn't evil and heartsick over her cousin's destiny. "The entry's been amended over the years by some of our other ancestors. Apparently, a lot of Slayers have passed through San Francisco on their way to something called the Boca de Infierno."

"The mouth of Hell." Phoebe interjected.

Piper rolled her eyes and then continued, "The Slayer tends to only fight lower level demons and vampires. However, she is often called to battle greater evils at sites of mystical convergence, when the world is in imminent danger or Apocalypse is near."

When they'd waded through all the information on the Slayer, the book was set aside and the sisters sat in shocked silence. After a few minutes, Phoebe couldn't stand it any more. "Well that sure puts this morning's little argument into perspective doesn't it?"

"She's been fighting." Piper said sadly. "Every night, she's been sneaking out to fight the forces of evil and all I could think about was that she wasn't following the house rules."

"Don't blame yourself, honey." Prue replied, hugging her sister. "You didn't know. None of us did. She has to keep her secret, just like we have to keep ours."

Around that time, Leo orbed back into the living room. Piper smiled up at her husband, glad for a distraction. "Did you find out anything?"

"Not exactly." Leo replied awkwardly. "The Elders confirmed that Deirdre is a Slayer but..."

"But?" Prue prompted after her brother-in-law trailed off.

"Well, I thought it was odd that a Slayer would come out of the same line as the Charmed Ones. So, I asked them..."

Piper rolled her eyes as her husband trailed off again. "It's okay, honey, you can tell us. We need to know what's going on here. What did the Elders tell you?"

"They were pretty evasive. It seems somebody made a mistake and there was another destiny that she was meant for. One that even Deirdre herself doesn't know about. She was never meant to be Called as a Slayer... and now the Elders are getting antsy. Seems her other destiny is going to come into play any day now. They only told me because they thought you three should be prepared."

"Great, and just when we find out she's not evil, too." Piper grunted.

"Two destinies? And I thought we had problems with just the one." Phoebe commented. "Did they give you any clue what we should be looking for?"

"Just that a few allies from your family's past might be popping up to share the fun. Other than that, nothing."

"Wait," Prue said, a random thought occurring to her. "The book said that the Slayer's only companion is her Watcher, right?"

"Yeah, it said Slayers are usually solitary otherwise." Piper agreed.

"What are you thinkin' Prue?" Phoebe chimed in.

"Well, we met Deirdre's mother a few times when we were younger."

"Yeah." the youngest Halliwell nodded, waving her hands in a 'go on' motion.

"Did she seem like the type to stand by and 'watch' her daughter fight demons?"

"Definitely not." Piper answered. "Gloria would've torn apart anything that tried to come after Deirdre. She reminded me a lot of Gramms in that respect."

"Exactly," Prue smiled, she was pacing up and down the hardwood floor now, the idea forming in her head. "And that kid in the park didn't look nearly old enough to be the one training her."

"Not to mention the fact he wasn't human." Piper nodded, picking up her sister's line of thought.

"I'm not following." Leo informed them, frowning.

"If the boy from the park wasn't Deedee's Watcher, and her mom wasn't either, then we have yet to meet him or her." Phoebe told him.

"And if she really does have a destiny she doesn't know about, there is a good chance her Watcher doesn't know either." Prue finished, "I'm also guessing we aren't our cousin's favorite people right now. She might not let us help her."

"So you're thinking of finding her Watcher, telling him, and then maybe he can help with Deirdre?"

Prue nodded. "The only problem is figuring out who he or she is. That, and how to get a hold of him."

Just then, the doorbell rang. Phoebe offered to get it while her sisters further discussed the problem of their cousin. When she opened the door the youngest of the Charmed Ones found a man and a woman standing on the front stoop. Obviously in his late thirties, the man had dark hair and laughing hazel eyes that told of age and danger. He wore a cream colored sweater with jeans and a black trench coat, and leaned across the doorframe with an ease that spoke of concealed power.

The 30ish woman had jet black curls that fell to her waist. She was dressed similarly to her companion, in jeans, a peasant blouse and a dark purple trench coat. It was her eyes that really caught Phoebe's attention though. They were bright violet and crackled with inherent power. Just being within a few feet of the woman made the hair on the back of the witch's neck stand on end. She clearly had power...magical power.

It wasn't until the man cleared his throat loudly, that Phoebe realized she'd been staring. "I'm sorry. Can I help you?"

"Yes, is this the Halliwell residence?" The man asked, slightly tensing. The woman gave him an odd look that seemed to be an amused glare.

"Mmm hmm, this is Halliwell Manor." Phoebe extended a hand to the man. "I'm Phoebe Halliwell."

As soon as he took her hand, Phoebe got a flash of clashing swords, screaming innocents, and lightning storms. She also saw Deirdre hugging this man, and him training her with the katana. By the end of the intense Premonition, Phoebe was nearly out of breath, and she realized he was talking to her. "I'm sorry, what?"

"We're looking for Deirdre Pierson," the man repeated, annoyed, "Is she here?"

Phoebe was taken aback by the man's gall, and the fact he seemed unconcerned with her own agitation. "Not to be rude, but who are you?"

The woman, who hadn't spoken the entire time, gave her companion an expectant look coupled with a smirk, to which he simply rolled his eyes. "My name is Adam Pierson." he replied, "I'm Deirdre's father."


	5. A Welcome Retreat Turned Bad

_San Francisco is a beautiful place._  

This is the thought that went through the mind of Lucas Cates as he passed the Golden Gate Bridge. He'd never been out of his small hometown before in his life. So when his mother had sent him on a trip to California with his local Biology teacher/historian/ crazy Indian mystic, he'd jumped at the chance. There were only two catches. One: they were in San Francisco on business, and two: his brother-in-law was coming along for the trip.

"I just don't see why Mom had to send Tyler along." Luke grumbled, slouching further down in the passenger seat of his teacher's jeep. They were on the way to their hotel and Tyler was following them in his convertible.

"Your mother sent you out here to learn the ropes so you can take over her position someday. You're too green right now, my friend. Tyler's older and he has more experience as a diplomat." Sherman Blackstone replied. He wondered, not for the first time, why he'd agreed to chaperone this trip. Oh yeah, he hadn't been given a choice. He'd basically been ordered by Vivian Cates to keep an eye on Luke and Tyler Creed. They were in San Francisco to deliver a valuable artifact to the Kindred Prince of the City. Vivian hoped to make an alliance between Luna's people and the Wolf Lake wolves.

"I can be diplomatic."

"Yeah, sure." Sherman rolled his eyes. "The point is, race relations between Wolfen and Kindred have never been what you'd call stellar. In fact, you could say you guys hate each other's guts. They tend to look at you as mangy werewolves. You tend to look at them as callous blood suckers."

Luke ignored the Cheshire grin that spread across Sherman's face. "So?"

"So, your dear brother-in-law is a cut-throat, manipulative son-of-a-bitch. He can smooth talk the blood suckers or tear them apart, depending on what's needed. You haven't developed that yet."

"Why can't you talk to them?" Luke challenged.

"Me?" Sherman gulped. "I'm human, strictly a mediator between you two mutts. I shudder to think what any of those Licks would do to me if one of you starts a fight. That's why I'm gonna be sitting at the bar, having a Mai Tai while you two present the package to the Prince."

Luke let out a growl and his eyes flashed gold in frustration as they rolled into the parking lot of the Bay Bridge Hotel. Tyler rolled up in the convertible behind them. He'd called ahead to reserve the room and was currently checking them in before they were to leave for their rendezvous at The Haven. When he was done, Tyler peeked his head into the passenger side window. "You're in 242 and 244. Here are the keys to your rooms."

Tyler tossed the keys into Luke's lap and the teen glared at him, eyes back to their regular green. *I really hate that guy* he thought. Tyler just gave the boy an insufferable grin before speaking to Sherman. "I'm in 246. I'm gonna go get a bite to eat before the meeting. I'll meet you in the lobby at 8:30."

"Alright, but watch out around here. They're libel to eat you." Sherman replied.

"Keep an eye on the pup while I'm out." Tyler shot over his shoulder as he went to his car to retrieve his things. He knew Luke was glaring daggers at his back and that made him smile all the more. He really didn't like his wife's family...especially lately.

Tyler was glad for the chance to get out of Wolf Lake. After a disastrous incident involving a mad scientist and Ruby Cates' beloved John Kanin, Kanin had miraculously transformed into a Wolf. Who saw that coming? he thought to himself. Evidently, Sherman had. The old man had advocated Kanin in front of the entire clan!

He slumped onto his hotel bed, unable to stop his mind from racing through the events of the last few months. As soon as Kanin had joined the Wolf Lake Pack, Ruby had begun hinting around to Tyler that she wanted a divorce. He wasn't about to give up the only real leverage he had to move up in the Pack. Being the mate of a White Wolf automatically guaranteed Tyler status and respect, and he certainly wasn't going to hand it over to Kanin without a fight. He'd calmly informed his wife that there was no such thing as a divorce in their culture, wolves mated for life. That's when Ruby had begun to sneak out to see her little boyfriend on a nightly basis.

Tyler growled at the thought. He forced his brain to change the subject. It immediately went to the other big problem facing him at home; the sheriff's little half-breed daughter, Sophia Donner. Sophia had finally Flipped over the summer and become Wolfen. She'd finally excepted her nature as a Wolf and was now able to shapeshift into her pelt with the rest of them. The problem was the color of said pelt. The entire clan had been shocked to find out that they had another White Wolf in their midst. White females were extremely rare and were only born once every handful of generations.

There where rumours around town now about the Prophecy of the Trinity, a set of three White females born to the same clan, one of which could become the High Queen of all the Wolfen. Personally, Tyler had always thought the Prophecy was a load of bull. But it gave Sophia's father, Sheriff Matt Donner, an edge. As long as Sophia didn't have a mate, Sheriff Donner was the only male Wolf linked to her. Tyler had competed with Matt for the position of Alpha in the Pack's recent attempt at a democratic election, nevermind that the position had gone to Vivian of all people. Having a White Wolf for a daughter gave Donner a leg up on Tyler in the Pack's power structure. Not only that, it was looking more and more like Sophia was going to choose Luke as a mate.

Again, Tyler's growls could be heard throughout the empty hotel room.

He decided to put all thoughts of Wolf Lake out of his head for the time being. He was in San Francisco, and he had time for a bit of fun before he had to meet with Luke and Sherman. It took Tyler about twenty minutes to shower and dress for the night. Fifteen minutes later he was cruising the steep and winding roads of the City by the Bay.

* * *

 

Deirdre and Hunter had been avoiding basically everyone all day. At first, he'd stayed with her at her mother's house after the fight she'd had with her cousins. Hunter still didn't fully understand what the sisters had done to piss off the Slayer so badly. In his estimation, with the way Dee had been acting the past few hours, the women were lucky they were her family.

Because she'd been so upset, Deirdre had thrown herself into her Slaying. Demons all over the city were afraid to go out in public. The lack of targets made her even more irritable. They were currently riding around the darkened, rolling hills of San Francisco hunting a pack of Slugnacht demons. Deirdre suddenly unwound one of her arms from Hunter's waist, pointing to where one of the demons had jumped over a guard rail, run out of the bushes on one side of the road, and was trying to scale the cliffs at the other side. Hunter gave chase without a thought, turning the bike they both rode into oncoming traffic.

A convertible that had been speeding in the other direction suddenly swerved to avoid the bike. Deirdre watched in slow motion as the car crashed through the guard rail and plummeted down the bush covered hill below. "Oh my god!"

"Shit!" Hunter shouted. Careful to watch out for any other drivers coming their way, Hunter quickly parked the bike on the narrow shoulder of the road next to the broken guard rail. The demon was forgotten.

Deirdre peaked over the guard rail. It was a steep drop and the convertible had run halfway down it into the valley below before crashing head first into a tree. The Slayer was in motion almost immediately. She ran down the hill, ignoring the bushes and brambles tearing at her clothing. Hunter was right behind her.

When they reached the car, the driver wasn't in it. Deirdre spread her senses out, quickly locating him a few feet away in some tall grass where he'd been thrown from the car. She ran to him, sliding to her knees. The blond man was laying on his stomach so she carefully turned him onto his back, to check the damage. "Sir, can you hear me?"

As soon as Hunter got a look at the large gash in the man's forehead and the tree branches sticking out of his thigh and shoulder, he freaked out. "Holy Cain!"

The man moaned slightly, his eyes fluttering open. Deirdre leaned over him. "Can you tell me your name?

"T-Tyler."

"Tyler, I'm Deirdre. You were in a car accident. I need you to tell me where all you hurt."

"Head."

"Oh, man." By this time, Hunter was pacing.

"You're not helping." Deirdre shot over her shoulder. Turning back to the injured man, she put her hands on the sides of his face. He looked about to lose consciousness. "Tyler, I want you to concentrate on my eyes and on my voice. Can you do that for me?"

Tyler moaned and tried to nod but pain shot through his head and neck. "Yeah."

"Ok. Do you hurt anywhere else?"

"My shoulder." Tyler's voice was getting softer and softer.

"Can you feel your legs?"

Tyler didn't answer and Deirdre knew he'd passed out. "Tyler. Tyler!"

"Man," Hunter interjected. "This is bad, man. This is really really bad."

"He's losing a lot of blood. I can't stop the bleeding. If I try to remove the branches, I'll probably do more harm than good." Deirdre was speaking more to herself now. She knew Hunter had pretty much lost it.

"He's gonna die. I know he's gonna die." Hunter mumbled. He had good reason to be upset, if the Prince found out that a human had died because of him, it would mean his Final Death. Scenarios began to run through his head as to what the Kindred sent after him would do.

Deirdre ignored him, still in triage mode. Her hands and clothes were covered with blood and her head was spinning from the smell of it. She checked Tyler's pulse and then put an ear to his chest. "His heart stopped."

"Shit. Shit .shit."

She began performing CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Hopefully she could get his heart beating again. Then she could worry about how to get to a hospital. It didn't look like Hunter was going to be of much help in that department. Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled back and flung away from Tyler's body. Hunter knelt over him, pulling Tyler's head into his lap.

"You can't do that. His neck could be broken."

The only response Deirdre got from Hunter was a low warning growl. The look in his eyes told her he'd completely lost touch with reality. Hunter brought his wrist to his mouth and bit into it with an elongated canine tooth. At first Deirdre was confused, but when he brought the wound to Tyler's mouth, she knew exactly what he was doing. "No."

Deirdre tried to pry Hunter off of Tyler, but he threw her off again with his good arm. He seemed determined to go through with his plan. She grunted in disbelief. "Are you crazy? Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

The same low warning growl sounded out and Hunter continued to poor his blood down Tyler's throat. He made a grunt of encouragement when Tyler started to swallow instinctively. Deirdre watched silently, knowing that even if she managed to stop Hunter now, it was too late. He'd just thrown his life away.

When he felt that Tyler had taken enough, Hunter pulled his wrist away. He quickly, but carefully pulled the branches out of the older man's shoulder and thigh. Then, he stood up taking in everything. After a moment he was able to process enough that he finally acknowledged Deirdre, sitting just feet away staring at him with tears in her eyes.

"You shouldn't have done that." She said softly. A hint of danger penetrating the despair in her voice.

"I had to. It was the only way. If they found out I killed a human, I'd be slaughtered."

Deirdre rose to her feet. She was still covered in blood, her eyes sparkling with anger, looking for all the world like an avenging Kali. "You'll be slaughtered anyway. You Embraced him without his consent or Luna's. You didn't brake the Masquerade with the accident, but you have now."

"I hadn't thought of that." Hunter whispered. What had he done? He'd just condemned himself, that's what.

Deirdre laughed mirthlessly. She looked down at Tyler's prone form. Something about him made her want to gather him up in her arms. She was drawn to him and she couldn't explain why. "What are we going to do with him? Taking him to a hospital is out of the question now."

"We leave him."

Deirdre looked at Hunter like he'd sprouted another head "Leave him? After what you... after what he's been through?"

Hunter saw the look in her eyes and wanted to cringe. "That's the way it's done in our clan. He needs to be left to fend on his own."

"That's despicable." She spat.

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Yeah actually I do." Deirdre pulled a cell phone out of her jeans pocket.

"Who are you calling?"

"The Prince." Seeing the panic on his face and that he looked likely to jump her before she dialed, Deirdre sighed. "I'm not going to tell him it was you who did it, just that I found him while I was on patrol. It isn't exactly a lie. And besides, it's part of my truce to report things like this."

"They'll know it was me." Hunter said softly. "Cash will know."

"Yeah, well... we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. You can stay with me until it gets worked out. For now, I just want to make sure he's taken care of."

Hunter remained silent as Deirdre dialed the Prince's number. "Hello? Mr. Luna?... This is Deirdre Pierson. I found a body in the woods while I was patrolling...Because it looks like he may have been recently Embraced. I just thought you should know... Yeah, sure. He looks pretty roughed up, you might want to hurry...No, I have to finish patrolling, I'll be gone by the time they get here. ...Okay."

Deirdre rattled off some directions then hung up the phone. "They're sending some people down to pick him up."

Hunter nodded and silently headed back up the hill toward his bike. He seemed to have slipped back into a trance. Deirdre looked at Tyler for a moment, something inside her ached for him and what he'd been through. She felt like she knew him somehow. She pushed that thought aside and removed her bandana and blood soaked jacket. She laid the jacket over Tyler's body, careful to keep the wet part of the leather toward Tyler. That way, the people coming might not know how much she's been involved in Tyler's injuries. Deirdre folded the bandana up and put it below his head. She took one last look at him before walking back up the hill to meet Hunter.

Tyler Creed's eyes fluttered open just in time to see Deirdre's retreating form. Oddly it occurred to him, just before he blacked out again, that she moved like a Wolf on the Hunt. If he'd been able to see her face, Tyler would have seen not only the inner turmoil played out there, but also a set of two glowing yellow eyes.


	6. Origins Bound

The Charmed Ones spent an awkward couple of minutes staring at their guests after Phoebe let the pair in. 

A lot of unexpected things tended to happen to the Halliwell sisters, but it still wasn't often they had the father of the girl they were just discussing miraculously show up at their door. After a few pleasantries, Piper had decided to invite Mr. Pierson and his companion to dinner. The sisters busied themselves in the kitchen while Leo showed their guests around to the safe parts of the house and made small talk.

"Does anybody else find their timing a bit weird?" Phoebe said in a low voice.

Piper shrugged. She was putting finishing touches on the roast she'd been preparing. "Personally, I think it's a good thing. I mean we have been waiting for Deirdre's father to show up since she got placed here."

Prue nodded, glancing into the dining room. "Yeah and maybe he can shed some light onto who her Watcher might be. But did you get a load of the woman with him?"

"Yeah, I can definitely feel some power in her." Piper nodded.

"And did you notice that she seems to know the Manor pretty well? I mean the way she acts, it's like she's been here before. And she hasn't said a word since she got here." Prue's eyes narrowed in suspicion while she spoke.

"That's not all, you guys." Phoebe handed Piper some fresh herbs. "When I shook the guy's hand, I got this really weird Premo..."

The youngest Halliwell was cut off as Leo walked in with the guests.

"...tion. Yeah I may have that salary raise I've been hoping for at work." Phoebe tried to pass off what she'd been saying to her sisters when they came in.

Adam just seemed to look bored. His companion still held the look of mirth in her eyes. After another awkward moment Prue clapped her hands together. "Well, why don't we all sit down in the dining room? We can eat and discuss...things."

After they were all settled in, Adam was the first one to speak. "So, is my daughter not coming to dinner?"

The sisters exchanged some panicked looks that seemed to set the raven haired lady into a fit of laughter, "Oh for god's sake, Old Man. Why don't you just take pity on them, and tell them why we're here."

"Yes, do spoil the fun." Adam replied, his thick British accent becoming even more pronounced with his sarcasm. "This is your show, Old Woman. I'm just here for the child. Why don't you tell them?"

"I'm sorry." Phoebe said, holding up a hand. "Is anyone else here confused?"

The woman stood from her seat. "Oh well, I suppose I have dawdled enough."

She raised her hands on either side of her head, and mumbled something that sounded vaguely Celtic in the direction of the foyer. There was a shimmer of light revealing a figure that made the Halliwell women rush out of their seats to greet it.

"Gramms!" Phoebe rushed over and nearly threw her arms around her grandmother before realizing that the lady wasn't corporeal.

"But how?" Prue asked. "We didn't summon you."

Gramms shrugged, quickly cut off by the woman standing behind her granddaughters. "No. But I did."

The face of the Halliwell matriarch lit up as she walked over to her summoner. "Lady Evelyn! It's so good to see you!"

"And you as well Penny. But I go by Eve these days."

Penny's smile only widened. "Of course." She turned to her confused granddaughters. "Come here my darlings, and meet a very old friend of mine."

The sisters followed their Gramms back over to the dining table. "Girls, this lady has guided and watched over generations of Halliwells from the beginning of our line."

"So...you're not human?" Prue ventured looking at Eve.

"What I am is unimportant at the moment." The immortal woman replied. "What is important is that we seem to have a problem with a certain young Slayer."

"You know about Deirdre?" Piper asked, getting even more confused by the moment.

"Does that surprise you? I knew where to find the Charmed Ones when the time came." Eve replied.

"So you're her Watcher." Prue concluded.

Eve shook her head. "No that honor belongs to the grouchy Old Man over there."

Adam rose from his seat as Eve pointed at him. Phoebe shook her head. "But he's not human either."

"Yes, well isn't that the pot calling the kettle a freak?" Adam retorted dryly. "Not to be a bore, but can we get on with the business at hand here."

"Yes." Leo stepped into the conversation. "How is all this going to help us find Deirdre?"

"Finding her isn't the problem." Adam grumbled.

"Then, what do you need me for?" Penny questioned Eve. "I'm sure the girls can scry for little Deedee. Aren't the Charmed Ones enough to solve whatever the problem is?"

"The Charmed Ones aren't the ones that helped put a Binding Spell on Deirdre." Eve replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You did what?"

Prue practically yelled at her grandmother. It was enough that Gramms had bound the sisters powers when they were young, but putting such a spell on Deirdre didn't seem to help anything. This was especially true considering the girl was already an active Slayer. Penny seemed to have gone ashen, if ghosts could actually accomplish that feat.

"It was just a little one." Penny mumbled. "And besides, Gloria asked me to do it."

"Except you broke one of the cardinal rules." Eve scolded. "You didn't ask what the Binding was for."

"I assumed it was to prevent her from being Called as the Slayer. She is a Potential you know." Penny raised her nose, trying to add weight to her justification.

"But Deedee is the Slayer, Gramms." Phoebe whined, covering her eyes and slumping down in a chair. She couldn't believe that her grandmother would be so irresponsible.

Penny shook her head. "Oh, I've really made a mess haven't I? So, what was the spell really for?"

"Binding the Wolf?" Adam ventured a guess, directing it at his sometime companion.

Eve nodded. Penny gasped a little and fell silent. Off the looks of the others in the room, she decided to elaborate. "You all had better sit down."

As soon as everyone was sitting back at the dinner table, Penny continued. "I never told you girls this because I was sworn to secrecy and you wouldn't have understood at the time anyway. When Gloria first brought Deirdre here, she told me all about the town that she'd grown up in and about Deirdre's real parents."

"I thought Gloria was her mother." Leo interjected.

Penny shook her head. "Gloria raised Deirdre as her own, along with Adam here." She spared a smile for the man who had befriended her over a handful of family holidays. "The woman who gave birth to Deirdre was Gloria's sister. They had lived in a town called Wolf Lake. This was the same town where my ex-husband took my sons Seth and Richard after our divorce. Apparently, Seth had a fling with this young lady and left her pregnant. He and his brother left Wolf Lake shortly thereafter. I made up the story about Seth and Gloria being married to spare your feelings. You three were too young to understand the situation. "

Penny stared sadly at her granddaughters for a moment before continuing. "For some reason, Deirdre's birth mother didn't feel it was safe for her to be raised in Wolf Lake with her own people. She arranged with Gloria and with Deedee's paternal grandfather, my ex, to have the child brought here where she could be raised close to a loving family."

"Okay," Prue said when her grandmother trailed off, "But that doesn't explain why Gloria had you put a Binding Spell on Deirdre."

Penny sighed. "The reason they called Gloria's hometown Wolf Lake, was that it's mostly peopled with Wolfen."

"Huh?" Phoebe voiced.

"Werewolves." Replied Adam.

"Werewolves?" Piper shrieked. "You're telling us that our cousin is a werewolf?"

Leo placed a calming hand on his wife's shoulder. "Relax, honey. Not all werewolves are bad people. Some of them, like the Wolfen, can control their shapeshifting and their killer instincts."

Eve nodded. "The problem is that your Gramms' Binding Spell and Deirdre's Calling as the Slayer has dampened her Wolfen half. She is still an extremely powerful mystical creature. And messing with that is never good. While she could have easily made it through her first Flip or shapeshift when she hit puberty, as normal, now her Wolfen tendencies are going to manifest themselves violently."

"But how is that possible?" Penny asked. "What could've broken the Binding Spell to set her other half loose?"

"Well I'm guessing it was a combination of three factors." Eve replied. "One: you as the primary spellcaster have already died."

"Yes but Gloria helped with the casting. So the spell should've outlived me."

"But Gloria died over a month ago, Gramms." Prue pointed out.

"Alright, that's two factors." Piper said. "What about the third?"

Eve's lips curled into a smile that might have looked evil if they hadn't known better. "Some males from the Wolf Lake Pack happen to have wandered into San Francisco quite recently. She'll be meeting up with one or two of her own kind soon, and that will definitely push her over the edge, if it hasn't already."

"Just how is it you know all this?" Prue's eyes narrowed again with suspicion.

Eve and Adam exchanged a mischievous look. "Let's just say I saw it in a dream."


	7. Wolfy Behavior

Deirdre stifled a frustrated scream as she slammed the door behind Hunter's retreating form. 

The couple had adjourned to her Mom's house after the whole car crash debacle. Understandably, Hunter had been quite upset by the whole ordeal. He'd practically been crawling out of his skin. He was convinced that a pack of avenging Kindred would burst through the door at any moment, ready to drag him out by the neck, back to the Prince and his impending doom.

Deirdre could understand this. She really could. What she couldn't understand was her own reaction to the night's events. The Slayer also felt like crawling out of her skin, but for a completely different reason. From the moment they'd walked in the door, Deirdre had felt like jumping Hunter. She couldn't remember a time when she'd felt so turned on. That, and her senses were going totally haywire.

Every scent that wafted through the air, every brush of fabric against her skin, every sound assaulting her ears was magnified at least ten fold. Deirdre knew Slayer senses were more powerful than most. But this was ridiculous.

Her plight wasn't lost on Hunter either. Especially when Deirdre had lost her hormonal battle and had ended up actually jumping him. He had not been amused. In fact he had been so unamused that he'd gone into a tirade about her insensitivity and then stormed out of the house. Deirdre was left to deal with her hormones and wacked out senses on her own.

"Okay. Calm down, Dee." She said to herself, taking in a few deep breaths. "You've just been through some major shit, and now you've just got a little post traumatic stress goin' on. That's all this is."

She went to the kitchen to get a glass of ice water and made the mistake of getting too close to the open window. A truck horn sounding from the street outside nearly blew out her ear drums. Taking huge gulps of water in an effort to calm herself down, Deirdre spit half of it out when the cold of the ice sent shards of pain through her teeth. She ran to the bathroom to see if she'd popped a filling or something, but when she reached the mirror her eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets. Correction... her bright glowing yellow eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets!

"Okay...That is SO not post traumatic stress!" Deirdre cried out to her reflection.

She began to hyperventilate. She remembered that her mother once told her that the best thing to help a person relax was a nice hot shower. Shedding her clothes, she climbed into the shower. After a few minutes under the near scalding streams, the Slayer was able to relax. But again, Deirdre was reminded of how turned on she was.

"And my boyfriend would walk out on me at a time like this." She growled to herself.

After a few more minutes, Deirdre decided she'd had enough and turned off the water. As she exited the bathroom, wrapped in one of her mom's fluffy towels, she hazarded another glance at the mirror. Her eyes had returned to their normal green color.

"Great." Deirdre breathed as she went to her mother's bedroom. "Now to take care of that other problem."

For her last birthday, Deirdre had received gifts from around the world from various members of her "extended family." Her father's friends and her natural paternal family all loved her to death and felt the need to shower the teenager with gifts. One gift in particular had nearly sent Gloria Pierson into a conniption fit. The dress was emerald green with a halter top and a knee length hem.

The parts that Deirdre's mother had objected to were the slits that ran all the way up the sides of the dress, held together with bejeweled horizontal straps. Gloria had claimed that the dress was too sexy for Deirdre to wear at her age. _Well,_ Deirdre thought _Mom's gone now and I've got bigger problems._

Within twenty minutes, she was dressed to the nines and headed out the door. She had slicked her normally spiky hair back and opted for a knee length leather trench coat. She walked the distance to her destination, every smell and sound along the way setting off her senses.

When, Deirdre arrived, fake ID in hand, she grinned up at purple neon sign that proclaimed the club P3. She got past the bouncer with the greatest of ease. Checking her jacket at the door, the Slayer slipped into the throng on the dance floor and gave herself over to the pulsing music.

* * *

 

Julian Luna was furious. He walked around his office, his glowing eyes finally settling on his bodyguard. "How could this have happened? These people were sent here to form an alliance! And what do we greet them with? A forceful Embrace of one of theirs from one of our own!"

Cash flinched as the Prince shouted the last part. Julian softened a bit at the look. After all, he knew that Cash felt badly enough about the situation. Of all the Kindred clans, Clan Gangrel was closest to the Wolfen. Hell they were practically cousins. For a Gangrel to forcibly Embrace a Wolf was considered beyond unforgivable. And it was Cash's own Childe that had committed the act.

"You know I have no choice. Had it been a human, I could have chalked it up to the folly of youth, and simply banished the boy. But this..."

Cash nodded, his heart breaking. "I understand, you have to call a Blood Hunt. What Hunter did cannot be excused. The Gangrels are at your service my Prince."

"I'm sorry Cash." Julian said placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"I just hope I find him first." Cash mumbled.

He couldn't bring himself to say what he really thought. This was that Hunter should have known better. Cash couldn't think of what his Childe might have been thinking, trying to turn a werewolf into a vampire. It simply wasn't done. But then again, when did a Fledgeling like Hunter ever have occasion to run into a Wolf in the city?

Cash dismissed himself from the room, sending the monstrous Nosferatu Primogen, Daedalus, into Julian's office as he left. The Blood Hunt was being called out to all Kindred clans apparently. Normally it was just Clan Gangrel's job to hunt down such offenders, but with a Gangrel transgressor it was open season.

Cash walked into the one of the bedrooms of the giant Luna Mansion. He slumped down in a chair, his head rolling back so he could stare at the ceiling. Across the room, his girlfriend was hunched over a prone form laying on the bed.

"How is he?"

"About as well as can be expected," the redhead replied, placing a cloth over the forehead of her feverish charge. She walked over to her Mate and sat in his lap, wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head on his chest. "How are you doing?"

"I can't believe this is happening. I taught Hunter better than this, Charlie." Cash rested his head on top of hers. "At least, I thought I had. Now I'm going to have to put him down or watch somebody else do it.... I mean, what the hell was he thinking?"

Cash's ranting was interrupted by a commotion in the hallway. After a moment, a teenage boy and an old man that Cash didn't recognize walked in, followed by the Prince. Charlie immediately jumped out of Cash's lap as he rose out of the seat.

Cash had never actually met a werewolf himself, other than the one laying unconscious on the bed. The Garou, as they were referred to by the Kindred, rarely ventured into the heavily human populated cities. Cash himself hadn't had too much occasion to leave the City after his Embrace, so he'd never given them much thought. However, the sense of power he felt coming from the kid told him that he had to be one of these so-called Wolfen.

Luke brushed past the two vampires at the door, followed closely by Sherman. They approached the bed where Tyler lay unconscious, wounds still healing from his ordeal. When Luna had called to explain the situation to them, Sherman had put the Kindred Prince on speakerphone.

Luke had listened with not a small amount of amusement when he'd heard that Tyler had been hurt and that Luna needed the two of them to come in to identify him. After all, the best thing Luke could say about his brother-in-law was that he was a contemptible bastard that had slept with his mother, and practically forced his older sister into marriage. But hearing about Tyler's plight and seeing it were two completely different things.

The normally arrogant, self-assured form of Tyler Creed lay before him broken and bloody, and Luke could feel him slipping away from the bonds that ran through their mutual Pack. Wolfen packs each had their own communal consciousness, through which each member could communicate with and locate the others telepathically. Luke felt a profound sense of betrayal and rage that this could be ripped from any one of his kind, Tyler Creed or not. It shook him to the core of his being.

Sherman more surprised than anyone in the room as the future Alpha of the Wolf Lake Pack turned to the Prince of San Francisco with blazing yellow eyes. Lucas stalked up to Luna like the dominant male Wolf he was, and spoke in cold measured tones.

"I want the man responsible for this found and brought to me. I want him to explain himself before I rip him apart!"


	8. The Voices - New and Old

Once they'd been apprised of the situation, it had taken the Charmed Ones very little time to burst into action. The plan was to find Deirdre and get her back to Halliwell Manor, whatever the cost. Adam would stay at the house with Leo and Penny, while the sisters and Eve went out after his adopted daughter.

Prue for one got the sense that Adam was a man who wouldn't stick his neck out for much in this life. All the same, it had taken much argueing from Eve, in a number of different languages, to get him to stay behind. At one point, Leo had even commented to Piper that he hadn't known one could curse so colorfully in Flemish.

Phoebe had missed most of the excitement, scrying for Deedee's location. She was using the leather falconer's glove that the girl had left behind as an anchor for the pendulum. When it finally settled on a point on the map, Phoebe did a double-take.

"You guys aren't going to believe this."

Prue and Piper rushed to their sister's side followed by the others. Catching a glance at the map, the eldest Halliwell sister cursed. "You gotta be kidding me."

"She can't actually be at P3." Piper retorted. "Waldo, the bouncer, would never let a minor into the club."

A cough behind them drew their attention to Adam, who at least had the decency to look embarrassed. "Actually, that may not be true."

"What did you do Old Man?" Eve smirked.

"I may have given her a slightly questionable bit of identification." Adam shrugged, as if it was of no real consequence.

"A fake ID?" Piper growled. "What kind of a father just gives his daughter a fake ID?"

An expression flashed over the man's eyes that made everyone present want to take a step back. They had no way of knowing that, once upon a time, he had ridden with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and had been known simply as Death. And that this was the very look many of his victims had seen before they'd taken their final breaths. That was provided that they saw his face at all.

"A father who is trying to keep his daughter alive long enough to see the birthday written on that fake ID." Adam replied coldly.

After that point, the subject was abruptly changed and the Charmed Ones began getting together their supplies. Penny aided Piper and Phoebe in whipping up some Sleeping Draughts in case they needed to sedate Deirdre to get her home. Adam briefed Prue on some of the psychological tactics they could use to get the girl back to the house. Eve availed herself of the sisters' incense & herb stash, blessing various trinkets and charms that she had brought along to prepare for any eventuality.

With all that they'd had to get together, it took the group a surprisingly short amount of time before they walked out the door. After that, it took barely twenty minutes in Prue's car before the women were at P3.

At the door, Piper stayed behind to have a brief word with Waldo the bouncer while the other three proceeded into the club to look for Deirdre. She really wasn't that hard to find. The seventeen year old seemed to be the only female in the club to be dancing within a circle of at least ten drooling guys.

Deirdre was oblivious to both the arrival of her cousins and the glares being sent her way by women all around the room. She was too busy bumping and grinding with guys who had no idea how young or how dangerous she was.

Prue shot Eve and Phoebe a nonplussed look before pushing her way through the mob of testosterone to her cousin. Grabbing hold of one of Deirdre's flaring arms, she said, "Okay. Time to go."

After a beat, Deirdre registered who the woman was holding her arm and she wrenched it away. She grabbed the guy nearest her a kissed him hard, thrusting her tongue down his throat a moment before turning back to Prue. "I'm not going anywhere. I like it just fine here."

Prue nearly gasped as Deirdre's eyes flashed gold before she went back to her tonsil-hockey. Phoebe took the opportunity to jump up on one of the tables and stick two fingers to her lips, letting out a shrill whistle. The band stopped and everybody but the lip-locked pair turned to face her.

"Listen up! Anybody seen dancing with, groping, or otherwise having any bodily contact with that girl," she pointed toward Deirdre, "within the next five seconds, will be banned from P3 until further notice!"

That decree had the dance floor cleared. It even seemed to penetrate the lust-addled brain of Deirdre's companion, who slipped away to rejoin his furious looking date. Thankfully, the music and dancing quickly started up again, and the ensuing argument was muffled.

Deirdre squared off against Prue, her arms crossed over her chest, looking ready to pounce at any moment. "That wasn't very nice."

"You need to come home with us right now, Deedee." Prue said clearly.

"And if I don't?" Deirdre replied, raising an eyebrow. "What are gonna do, Prue? Freeze me like you did Hunter? It'd be a bit conspicuous don't you think?"

"Or we could try it the easy way." Prue retorted.

Phoebe had come up behind Deirdre and was ready to dump the Sleeping Draught over her head. The younger girl dodged right, suddenly catching Phoebe's arm. Her reflexes were just disrupted enough to allow the purple liquid to be dumped all over her chest instead, marring the green satin of her dress.

Deirdre teetered a bit, looking like she was about to collapse. Piper took that moment to show up with Eve on her tail. "Okay! What did I miss?"

At the comment, Deirdre's eyes popped open, glowing gold yet again. Eve shifted uneasily as the enraged look swept over the four of them. "Apparently not much."

"You!" Deirdre spat. Her eyes seemed to glow even more intensely, as she stared at the immortal woman.

Eve muttered something in a foreign language that sounded vaguely like a greeting. This caused the Slayer to launch herself forward. At first, it looked like she was going to go for Eve's throat. At the last second, she lept through the gap between Piper and Eve, and started running for the door. It took the sisters a moment to realize what was happening before they pushed their way back through the crowd and gave chase. Eve was right behind them.

Deirdre broke into the open air of the alley beside the club. Her brain was operating entirely on instinct right now. _Run_ it told her. _Danger! Run!_ On some basic level she knew that the people following her had great power. _Power to hurt. Power to cage._

She couldn't let that happen.

This new voice inside her had carried her. It had driven her to the club to find a suitable mate. Up until now the voice had been wavering, warring with the other voice inside her that she knew well as The Slayer. At the club the Slayer voice had told her to _Stand. Fight._ But something in encountering the ancient woman had wiped out the Slayer voice. Now, the new voice told her to run, and she followed it.

Deirdre turned right out of the alley and kept running. About four blocks down she stopped dead in her tracks as she heard an animalistic scream break through the sounds of the night. She knew that voice too. Across the street she could see clearly into the alley opposite her despite the streetlights. Some one was being forced into a car. She saw a flash of blond hair and brown leather. Both the New voice and the Slayer voice were in perfect agreement. Deirdre turned around and ran after the car.

The Charmed Ones had nearly caught up to Deirdre when she suddenly turned and ran into open traffic. She ran across the street, a number of cars stopping short and honking at her. When she reached the opposite sidewalk, Deirdre started sprinting in the direction she had already come, much to the surprise of the sisters. With a growl, Piper lifted her arms, ready to Freeze her cousin, or blow her up. She really didn't care which right now.

Eve caught her hands just in time. "No! You could take out an entire city block, right now."

"Do you have a better idea?" Piper grumbled.

"She's right," Phoebe nodded. "You're too upset right now, Piper."

"True. But now we'll never catch her." Prue commented.

"Not necessarily." Eve replied. "That car she's chasing..."

"Yeah?" Piper prompted.

"I know who it belongs to."


	9. The Voices - Run

Lucas Cates paced the office like a caged animal, which was in point of fact, exactly what he was. 

His mind was racing with the implications of the last few hours. He had come to San Francisco with the express purpose of forming an alliance with Julian Luna's people. Tyler was meant to handle the negotiations. He was just meant to watch and present the stupid artifact when the time came.

Luke absentmindedly fondled to silk wrapped bundle in his jeans pocket. He hadn't even had time to change before heading to Luna's house, after they'd gotten the call. Now he had to be the one to represent his Pack in the midst of this madness. His seventeen year old brain boggled at the thought.

Seventeen. He was only seventeen, he didn't need this crap. Luke had always known that someday he'd be called upon to be a leader. He just hadn't thought it would be so soon. He didn't need to be labeled the guy who couldn't hack it when the pressure was on. Not this early, he was only seventeen. _You'll be eighteen in two days_ , his brain supplied. Great. Luke plopped down into one of the office's numerous leather chairs. Just great.

Then another voice joined his own inside his mind. _Run_ , it urged. At first, Luke thought it might be Tyler. After all, he was the only other wolf from the Wolf Lake Pack in the city. A bead of hope grew in Luke's heart.

_Run,_ the voice insisted. Wait. That couldn't be right. Tyler was unconscious, and even if he had been thinking of running in his sleep, he wouldn't be able to project it. Luke let his mind search out the voice.

_Run._ It was foreign, yet familiar somehow. Luke got the sense that he knew it from somewhere. It wasn't just part of the Pack's network. It was part of him somehow.

_Run_. Female. It suddenly clicked in Luke's brain that the voice was female. He tried to prod it with his own mind, but it was like the link only went one way. He could hear the voice, but it couldn't hear him.

_Run, Leeches! I'm right behind you._

Luke's eyes snapped open.

_Run. Cause when I get my hands on you, even your Sires won't recognize you._

Sherman Blackstone had been watching his young charge throughout this whole ordeal. In truth, he was deeply troubled by the fact that Luke had to go through this. Tough as the boy was, Sherman didn't think that Matt Donner himself would be taking the situation any better. That didn't stop Sherman's heart from wrenching when Luke nearly collapsed into the chair.

Maybe he was getting soft. Maybe it was just being in San Francisco again that had Sherman's heart playing tricks on him. Normally he'd just shrug at the pup's reaction and go about his business. Now though, something in the air had Sherman wanting to bare his soul to the boy, whispering secrets he'd long ago sworn to keep 'til the grave. _Damn Vee Cates,_ he thought. _And damn me too for orchestrating the whole thing._

He was brought out of his reverie by a slight flutter of movement from Luke. First, the boy's eyes snapped open. A second later, Luke jumped out of his chair like he'd been shocked by an electrical current. Sherman was about to ask what was wrong when he heard a commotion in the hall outside the office. Luke was already in motion.

Julian and Cash had been about to join the young Wolf and his chaperone in the office; when Lorraina, Cash's second in command, approached them with news. "Kory and Jasper picked up Hunter a few minutes ago, my Prince. They're en route. They should be here in five minutes."

Julian gave a nod and Cash paled a bit. Lorraina's cell phone rang and she glanced at the Prince. Luna nodded as the Cates boy and Sherman Blackstone joined them in the hallway. Lorraina answered the phone giving a few grunts of understanding. Her eyes went wide a second before she hung up.

Luna was in no mood to beat around the bush, even with Luke in hearing distance. "Well? What is it?"

Lorraina looked nervous and incredulous at the same time. "It seems the transport picked up a tail, sir."

"And?"

"Out with it, Lor." Cash prompted. "What's up?"

"It...it's the Slayer, sir. She's following them at a close distance."

Luna thought a minute. "What concern would the Slayer have in this business?"

Behind him, Sherman's eyes had gone wide with shock. Luke had never seen the expression on the old man's face, and it unnerved him enough to make him butt in.

"Who's the Slayer?" Whoever it was, this didn't sound good.

The Kindred ignored him. Cash whispered in the hopes that only Julian would hear. "The Slayer and Hunter...they've kind of been dating, sir."

Seeing Luna's eyes go dangerous, Cash amended. "Against my will, sir."

"Cash, you and I are going to have to talk about your control of your Childer." Luna growled. "Daedalus!"

Suddenly, a monstrous black clad figure appeared at Luna's right side. Even with all his Wolfen abilities, Luke hadn't seen him arrive. The monster spoke gracefully around a small set of fangs. "My Prince?"

"We may have a problem involving the Slayer. I want you on the look out, just in case the guards aren't able to block her motorcycle at the gate." Luna ordered.

"Um, sir?" Lorraina called the men's attention back to her. "That's what I was going to tell you next. She doesn't have her bike with her. She's running them down on foot."

The moment of amazed silence that followed allowed Luke to wonder again, who was The Slayer they were all talking about? Then he heard the voice again in his mind. _Run!_

It almost clicked into place for him in that second. That was a second before all hell broke loose.

Two Gangrel men fell through the front door, dragging an unconscious third. To Luke, it looked like the prisoner couldn't have been much older than himself. But he'd been told that looks could be deceiving with vampires. The bodyguard had a pained look on his face as he rushed to help support the boy's weight. The Prince immediately took action, going to the two captors.

"You were followed?"

One of the men was a huge black guy with one totally green eye. He nodded at Luna. "I think we lost her a few miles back. But she won't be long behind. I saw her out the rear-view. That girl looked majorly pissed."

The tawny haired man to his left nodded. "I don't know how she followed us as long as she did, sir. We must have been going eighty."

Luna looked more than a little disturbed by this notion. He spared a brief glance for Hunter, who had been the start of this whole mess before turning to Luke. " You are the ranking Wolf here, so I'll put it to you. Will you have your satisfaction now? Or do you wish to wait until this mess with the Slayer can be resolved?"

Luke thought about it for a moment. Calling for a man's life was never an easy thing to do. Before, the criminal had been theoretical, so Luke had little problem demanding his blood for his crime. Now, though, the boy was standing before him and his resolve wavered.

He glanced at Sherman for the briefest of moments. The old Indian had drilled it into him for years that the most important thing in a Wolf's life was the Pack. The Pack had to be protected, therefore its justice was always swift. Luke swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Let's do it now."

It was with resignation, that Cash dragged his Childe down the hall to the room where the Embraced Wolf was being kept. Halfway there, Hunter had come fully awake and had begun to struggle. However, when he saw the group assembled in the bedroom, Hunter's shoulder's sagged with the same resignation. It was all over, and there was nothing any of them could do.

"I'm sorry, Cash."

"I know you are, kid." Cash's voice broke. "I know."

Inside the room, Cash and Hunter joined The Prince, Daedalus, Kory and Jasper, a boy and an old man that Hunter didn't recognize, and surprisingly Charlie. Hunter's mind supplied that his Sire's Mate, the infamous Firestarter, was probably there for moral support. Then his eyes settled on the man on the bed, his head sagging in shame for the Embrace that had condemned them both.

Hunter was pushed to his knees and the Prince started to speak. "Hunter Devereux, for the offence of Breaking the Masquerade... and for your crimes against the Wolf Lake Pack of Wolfen, I hereby sentence you to Final Death. Have you any last words?"

Sherman watched, detached from the whole scene as the ritual played out. An execution. He'd seen plenty of those in his time. What worried him was Luke. The boy had never killed anyone before. Sure it would inevitably have happened at some point, but this whole drama was making the old Indian vaguely ill.

Luna had asked Luke in the hall if he wanted Luna to dispatch the prisoner or if he wanted to do it himself. Luke had swallowed another lump in his throat. He had no right to demand blood and then chicken out at the last second. Now he stood before Hunter, listening remotely as the Gangrel muttered an apology and put on a brave face. His dad had always told him that a true leader would never let a man suffer in vain.

Taking a breath, Lucas Cates looked at Tyler Creed lying on the bed and let the rage bubble up in him again. He felt his eyes glow gold and his fingernails distend into claws as he let the Wolf come to bare. He let his mind go blank and he brought one claw down in a slashing motion across the Gangrel's throat.

The thud as the body hit the ground was muffled by a great animal roar of rage that echoed from the doorway. Luke swung around. Two sets of golden eyes met and at once there was a moment of recognition. The voice echoed in Luke's head with a shriek.

_Murderer._

Luke prodded as hard as he could at the voice with his mind. He felt something break as he spoke into her mind. _He committed a grave crime against the Pack. He had to be punished._

The wild girl at the door look startled a second before pushing back. _I know you. How do I know you?_

A flood of images was exchanged between the pair. Childhood pictures were revealed. Bits of essence were swapped and recognized. In an instant the connection was shown in crystal clarity. Both sets of golden eyes snapped back to each other and Luke heard her voice in his head again, accompanied by a mixture of anger, agony, and hope.

_Oh yes I know you.....Brother._


	10. Intervention

The next few moments went by in a blur. Luke watched the girl he'd shockingly identified as his sister, charge into the room. At first, he thought she was coming at him.

"You killed him!" she screamed.

Luke braced himself for the Slayer's attack. She brushed past him though, launching herself at Luna. Her fingernails had extended into claws and she took a swipe at the Kindred Prince. She gouged five furrows into his chest before anyone had a chance to react. "You ordered his death!"

The bald monster, Daedalus grabbed the furious girl from behind, pulling her off the Prince. She countered with a backwards headbutt and a vicious kick to his shin. It caught the Nosferatu off guard just long enough for her to spin around and grab his shoulder. She launched him toward the wall with such force that he not only collided with it, but crashed completely through it.

Luke remained frozen to the spot as he watched her dispatch two of the Gangrel bodyguards. One of them landed on top of him, knocking him down. To the young wolf's horror, he landed on the floor, face-to-face with the vampire whose throat he'd just slashed. The young man's blood was soaking into the carpet. He gave a wet weeze, and then his glassy eyes drifted shut. He was dead.

Luke felt himself being dragged off the floor, and to the sidelines. He turned to see Sherman, giving him a brieved look, before turning back toward the action. Luke's hearing kicked back in at that moment. Funny, he hadn't realized he'd lost it.

The Slayer was screaming and growling incoherently at this point. A thin layer of white hair began forming over her skin and her eyes continued to blaze yellow. She focused her next attack on the Gangrel Primogen.

"You were supposed to protect him!" she howled. "He was your Childe!"

Right before the Slayer's body connected with Cash's, she was intercepted. A flash of red hair told Luke that the female Kindred was tackling her out of the way. There was a crash of glass as the momentum carried them both through a nearby window. Luke jerked free of Sherman's hold and ran to the window in time to see the two women land in Luna's garden, two stories below.

* * *

 

Charlie McGee rolled away from the Slayer with practiced ease. She'd never actually anticipated battling a Slayer, but she wasn't about to back down. If anybody could take down a Slayer, it was a Firestarter.

"You shouldn't have done that." Charlie retorted, pulling herself up to her full height. "I don't react well to people who attack my Prince ...or my Mate."

Deirdre rolled to her feet snarling at the Kindred. "Yeah, well they murdered mine. So, the way I see it, they have it coming.

The two women began circling each other. Out of the corner of her eye, Charlie saw Cash rushing into the garden from the house, followed closely by Julian, and Daedalus. Thinking to herself that it wouldn't do to have her Mate, her Prince, or her mentor getting in the way: Charlie, sent out a wave of energy.

Deirdre smirked as a ring of fire sprouted up around herself and the redhead. It effectively closed off the two female fighters from the others. "Impressive."

"You ain't seen nothin' yet, bitch."

A ball of flame appeared in Charlie's palm. A second before she flung it at Deirdre, the new voice in the Slayer's head whispered to her. _Wall_. She put her hands up to shield her face from the fire and a glowing green mist emitted from her palms. The fireball hit the mist, knocking Deirdre back barely a foot.

Charlie stared, disbelieving as the fireball fizzled out. The Slayer then cocked her head to the side, and growled. Charlie could have sworn she saw the bones in the girl's face shift before the green mist shot back into her hands.

"You wanna play?" The Slayer snarled. She fell to her hands and knees, slamming her palms against the ground. A shockwave of green energy caused the ground to start rumbling.

Meanwhile, Julian and Cash watched in horror as Charlie was knocked off her feet. The ground beneath them began to shake like the beginnings of an earthquake.

"Is she insane?" Cash shouted to the Prince over the noise. "We're in fucking San Francisco!"

Charlie scrambled back to her feet and sent a heat wave toward Deirdre, knocking the younger girl over. As soon as Deirdre's hands disconnected from the ground, the rumbling stopped. Charlie charged forward, about to throw another fireball while the Slayer was off guard, but a voice boomed out at her.

"STOP!"

A freezing purple wind lifted both the Firestarter and the Slayer up into the air and time froze.

Eve turned to Piper and smiled. "Nicely done."

"Thanks. You too." The witch replied. Then she turned to her sister. "Prue?"

"Got it." Prue nodded, aiming her hands at the small pond by the garden's far wall. A wave of water slashed out, dousing the Frozen ring of fire. Prue then lowered the paralyzed Firestarter slowly to the ground.

Meanwhile, the Slayer, who was immune to Piper's Freezing power, continued to snarl and growl incoherently from her place in midair. Phoebe quickly rushed over her cousin, tossing the remaining vials of Sleeping Draught at her. Deirdre quickly succumbed to unconsciousness, and slipped into a restless sleep. The bones in her back and legs began to pop and shift.

Prue lowered Deirdre gently to the ground and Piper unFroze everybody. Predictably, Julian Luna was the first of the Kindred to regain his bearings. Seeing the four new additions, and the two opponents laying on the ground, he felt the need to investigate.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"The girl is in need of our assistance." Eve explained. "We'll be taking her from here."

The human woman looked vaguely familiar, but Luna let it slide. "That girl attacked my associates and I, in my own home. She's dangerous and should be dealt with by the proper authorities."

"They are the proper authorities."

Julian turned around to face Daedalus. "You know these people?"

"The Old One and I are well acquainted. I can only guess the identity of the others." The Nosferatu Primogen replied. "It is an honor to meet the legendary Charmed Ones."

Daedalus gave a brief bow and a rare smile around his crooked fangs. The sight caused the sisters to collectively cringe. Phoebe attempted a friendly smile. "Oookaay. Nice to meet you too. But we really must be going. Slayer to save, and all that. You know how it is."

Eve nodded in Deirdre's direction, and the girl began floating at waist height. "Take her back to the Manor. Penny will now how to begin. I'll meet up with you shortly."

"You'll be okay?" Piper asked.

Eve nodded, with a good-natured smile.

Prue regarded Eve for a moment before nodding and turning to her sisters. "Let's go."

The eldest Charmed One waved a hand and the garden's gates flew open. Another wave sent Deirdre floating in the direction of her car. Julian was furious, stepping up to Eve, he drew himself up to his full height.

"This is outrageous. You have no idea what that girl is capable of. She needs to be contained."

Eve smirked. "On the contrary, Mr. Luna. I'm one of the few people on this planet that knows exactly what that girl is capable of. And I don't particularly care how outraged you are. But you are right about one thing. She will be contained, but not by you. Your people already have a champion."

She nodded briefly in Charlie's direction. "It is not for you to write this Slayer's destiny. She's someone else's champion."

The Prince seemed to consider this for a moment. Meanwhile, Eve turned to Daedalus, giving him a brief hug and a warm smile.

"It was good to see you old friend. Keep your young Prince out of trouble, hmm? We wouldn't want him hurt."

"Is that a threat?" Cash growled. He had been tending to Charlie and listening to the conversation up until that comment.

"Not from me. I'd be the least of your worries where Deirdre Pierson is concerned." Eve replied smoothly. "If I were you, I'd be more concerned about going up against her family. You wouldn't want to start a war would you?"

"The Slayer is kin to the Charmed Ones?" Daedalus asked, amazed.

"Among others." Eve nodded toward a point behind where the Kindred were all standing.

They turned to see Lucas Cates and Sherman Blackstone standing at the garden door, staring with wide eyes at the proceedings. When they turned back, Eve had vanished, a faint purple mist left shimmering in her wake.


	11. Meat the Family

All things considered, Luke found it fairly easy to slip away from the Luna Mansion. 

The attentions of all the adults around him were centered on Luna and Tyler. He got behind the wheel of the jeep and began flipping visors and floor mats. He heard a knock at the window. Rolling his eyes, he then rolled down the window.

"Looking for these?" Sherman asked, dangling the car keys next to Luke's face.

"I've gotta find her, Sherman." Luke insisted. "She needs help. I can feel it."

Sherman nodded and opened the driver's side door. "Move over. You're in no shape to drive."

Luke quickly complied and they were on their way out of the Luna complex. As they rolled up and down the hilly San Francisco streets, Luke remained strangely silent. After a few minutes, Sherman got worried. "Penny for your thoughts."

"Why didn't anyone tell me, Sherman?" Luke's exploded, eyes flashing gold. "I mean ... really! My mom. My dad. Ruby. Donner. You! How could all of you let me go through the last seventeen years without knowing I had another sister!?"

Sherman sighed. "Twin."

"What?"

"She's your fraternal twin sister. You didn't think you were the only single birth in the Wolf Lake Pack did you?"

"Oh! Oh that's great! Not only do I have a long lost sister. She also happens to be my twin... And what are you smiling at?" Luke roared.

Sherman shook his head but then gave in to his charge's angry expression. "It's just...you look alike. I haven't seen you two together since you were both too young to tie your own shoelaces."

Luke just huffed at this, and then he noticed the turns Sherman was taking. "Where the hell are we going?"

* * *

 

When the Charmed Ones re-entered the Manor, they were surprised to see Leo orbing an entire sofa up to the attic.

"What's going on?" Piper asked her grandmother, who was directing Adam in gathering ingredients for the spell.

Penny shook her head. "It will be easier for her if she remains unconscious, I think. The couch will keep her comfortable." She turned to Prue. "You can lay her on the remaining sofa in the parlor for now dear."

"I don't get it, how can keeping her asleep help?" Phoebe said, grabbing some wet towels. She laid them on Deirdre's head as the girl's body began to shake. "She's burning up! Where the hell is Eve?"

"Right behind you, as promised." Eve said, materializing in the hallway. "Sorry for the delay. I had to pick these up."

Prue's eyes nearly bugged out at the sight of the metal objects in Eve's hands "Shackles and chains? Wait, what exactly are we talking about here? Chaining up Deirdre in the attic?"

Eve gave the witch a placating look. "We might need to restrain her. Once the Binding spell is released completely, she may become violent. The chains are as much for our protection as for hers. Besides, she'll be under a doctor's supervision."

"Doctor!" Piper scoffed. "What doctor?! Leo's a Whitelighter and a former medic, but that's not the same."

"That'd be me." Adam said. He took Phoebe's place on the couch, checking his daughter's pulse and breathing. "If we're going to do this, we need to do it now."

Eve and Penny both nodded and headed toward the attic. Adam lifted Deirdre's shaking body into his arms and followed them up. The Charmed Ones exchanged ominous looks.

"Does anyone else have a bad feeling about this?" Piper asked, worried.

"Gramms wouldn't do anything to hurt Deedee. Not intentionally." Phoebe insisted.

Piper nodded. "But unintentionally?"

They exchanged another look and headed up the main stairs. Deirdre had been laid comfortably on the overstuffed sofa Leo had brought up. Her arms and legs began flail slightly, banging against the arms of the couch. A pentagram had been drawn around the sofa for protection. Eve and Penny stood next to a cauldron kept in storage in the attic. Adam and Leo stood to the side as onlookers.

"Alright girls," Penny said, "here's the reversal to the binding spell. Since I'm technically dead, I can't cast it."

Prue took a set of papers from the table her grandmother had indicated. Looking at the top sheet, her brow furrowed. "I can't read this let alone recite it."

Piper and Phoebe looked over their sister's shoulder. The paper was covered in scribbles that looked like gibberish. Piper shot her grandmother a confused look. Penny glanced at the paper. "Oh that's the Gaelic version! The second sheet is the English translation."

"Gaelic version?" Phoebe questioned.

"It's an adaptation of a very old spell." Eve offered.

The young witches shrugged and lit three candles on the podium where the Book of Shadows sat, closed for once. The sisters exchanged another look and began to chant the spell:

_Release the bonds that hold this child._

_Cut loose the reigns and free the wild._

_From scattered parts, let her now be one._

_We charge you Daughter, Mother, Crone._

As the Charmed Ones chanted, Deirdre began to scream and writhe. Her body lifted from the sofa of its own accord while the room began to shake. The witches continued as their cousin's body was engulfed in a glowing purple mist. The mist began to swirl around the Slayer like a cyclone. She threw back her head to scream and blinding lavender light flashed out of her eyes and mouth, knocking back all the others like a shockwave. The couch shot backwards into a pile of boxes against the wall and Deirdre fell to the ground.

Pulling each other back up in the aftermath of the spell, the sisters were alarmed to see that while Deirdre was no longer floating or convulsing, the state she was in looked no better.

Deirdre was now awake, if not fully alert. She crouched in the center of the pentagram like a wild animal biding its time before pouncing. Her eyes glowed with a golden light as they shot glances at the various other occupants of the attic. She didn't seem to recognize any of them. But when Phoebe tried to approach her, the girl sprung forward. No doubt, she'd have attacked the witch if she hadn't been thrown back by what looked to be an invisible forcefield.

"What the hell?!" Piper exclaimed. All the while, the attic door continued to shake in its frame, creating a horrible banging noise. Still, no one seemed to notice.

"We infused the chalk used to draw the pentagram with silver and some other protective elements." Leo explained. "We can go in, but she can't come out. It should hold her."

_Bang bang._

"It should hold her?!" Prue cried, incredulous. Deirdre collapsed on her side again and began to convulse as her bones attempted to shift.

_Bang bang._

Phoebe looked worried. "Has anyone here actually ever done this before?"

_Bang bang._

There were shrugs all around until everyone spun to look at Eve. "What?" The ancient woman asked. "I've seen plenty of shapeshifts in my time. But I've never been _present_ for a Wolfen's first Flip."

_Bang bang._

"Oh great!" Piper ranted. "So now we have to try to help Deedee through this thing, that no one here has ever witnessed. We've got multiple centuries of experience at our disposal and no one has a clue...and why the hell is that racket still going on?!"

Just then, the attic door, which Phoebe had locked behind her on the way up, flew open. _BANG._ More accurately, the door fell off its hinges and crashed to the floor from the blow sent to it, by the boy now standing in the door way. The boy's eyes flashed gold and he growled into the room menacingly.

Everyone took up fighting stances and Phoebe cried in disbelief. "Now?! We're getting attacked by demons now?! Don't you people ever go on vacation?"

"I don't think that's a demon." Adam commented wryly.

Lucas Cates surveyed the sight before him for a minute while contemplating his next move. The attic held five women and two men, none of which smelled entirely human. He recognized four of the women from Luna's garden.

The three in the middle had been identified as The Charmed Ones. He remembered one of them could freeze time, and another was telekinetic. The dark haired woman off to the side was also powerful enough to pose a threat. He quickly dismissed the others as being insignificant.

Luke heard a pained gasp from the middle of the room and his eyes narrowed to a glare as he spotted the familiar figure he'd been looking for. Again he let out a growl that only a pissed off Alpha male could. "What the hell are you people doing to my sister?"


	12. ChchchChanges

_Luke heard a pained gasp from the middle of the room and his eyes narrowed to a glare as he spotted the familiar figure he'd been looking for. Again he let out a growl that only a pissed off Alpha male could. "What the hell are you people doing to my sister?"_

There was silence for a moment a shock ran through the room. Prue was the first to recover. "Your sister?"

"Did I stutter?" Luke grunted, cautiously entering the attic. His body language screamed 'don't make any sudden moves, or they'll be your last.'

"Who the hell are you?" Piper asked, ready to Freeze the teenager if need be.

"Lucas." Came a gasp from behind her.

Prue turned toward the voice's owner. "Gramms, you know him?"

Penny looked about to cry, if that was possible for a ghost, as she walked over to Luke.

He tensed up, getting a very weird vibe off the woman.

"You know me old lady?"

Penny let the comment slide, beaming at him. "Of course I do, my darling boy. I'm your grandmother."

If this had been a cartoon, the sound of multiple jaws hitting the floorboards would have filled the room. Penny didn't pay any attention, she was too happy to be seeing her only grandson for the first time in her life....well almost life. "You do so look like your father."

Luke shook his head wildly. "No, you're lying. You've never even met my father."

Willard Cates had lived his entire life in Wolf Lake, and it was a well known fact that both his parents had died over a decade before Luke was even born.

"Actually." The voice came from behind Luke this time. "That's not entirely true." Sherman said enigmatically as he entered the room, to Penny's complete shock. He noticed this and smiled at her. "Heya Pen."

An anguished cry sounded out before anyone could respond, followed by a string of curse words from various dead languages and an angry retort from Adam. "If you're all well enough acquainted now, I could use a little help here."

Everyone's attention was drawn back to the center of the room. Having momentarily forgotten about Deirdre, no one had seen Adam rush into the circle to try and restrain her. As bones had continued to shift throughout her body, Deirdre's arms began to flail, knocking into the claws that were beginning to extend from her fingers. She began to unconsciously claw at her own flesh, trying to release the beast within. Adam did his best to hold her arms away from her body, but without much luck. She kicked him every time he came near.

"Hold on," Eve said, "I'll get the shackles." She turned to pick them up but was stopped by an iron grip on her arm.

"No. "Luke said, his tone brooking no argument. "If you restrain her you'll only injure her."

He turned to Adam and Deirdre, walking up to the circle. He looked startled when his body met with the invisible barrier. "What the hell?"

Guessing the problem, Phoebe grabbed a nearby rag. Prue stopped her as she walked toward the circle. "How do we know we can trust you?"

"You don't" Luke replied sagely. "But then again I'm not the one who kidnapped a girl and shut her up in my attic so I could perform weird rituals on her."

Seeing his point, Prue let her sister pass. Phoebe gave Luke a cautious but friendly smile, as she stooped to wipe away the chalk of the pentagram. "It was meant to keep her in, but I guess it works to keep other werewolves out too."

Luke walked into the circle, giving a brief nod. He thought about correcting her, saying he preferred the term Wolfen, but this wasn't the time. He stooped down to Adam's level. The man was watching him closely with a dangerous look in his eye. On any other occasion, Luke might have backed away from that look. Now though, he could feel his sister's pain through their shared mental connection. She was screaming inside, though her body was too twisted up to let it out.

"We need to get her clothes off." Luke said, taking charge. "The dress is part of what's preventing the Change. She has to be free of it."

Adam nodded and went for her shoes first. Piper shook her head. "Is it just me or is this totally wrong?"

Prue couldn't have agreed more. She rushed into the circle as the men were getting Deirdre's second shoe off. "Okay family or not, you guys are not going to do this."

"Her clothes have to come off if she's gonna Flip." Luke insisted. He had a hard time seeing her objection. Modesty was an alien concept to a Wolf. With all that Flipping between skin and pelt, they spent a good amount of time naked. Nudity was the norm rather than a taboo.

Prue nodded shortly. "Fine, but you're not gonna be the ones to take it off her. Just tell me what to do and you can both leave."

Luke shook his head. "I'm the only other wolf here. I'm the only one who has actually been through this. If anybody's leaving, it should be you people."

Seeing that this could get messy, Leo intervened. "Okay, how about this, Prue and ....?"

"Luke."

Leo nodded his appreciation. "Prue and Luke can stay. The rest of us will wait downstairs."

"Not on your life." Adam replied. Eve said something to him in what sounded like Latin and he relented, reluctantly letting go of his adoptive daughter. He walked out of the circle and replied to Eve in the same language. She gave a nod and he left the room.

"I will stay as well." Eve stated in a voice that told everyone present that there would be no arguing with her. Still, Luke looked at Sherman for reassurance. The old Indian nodded and Luke relaxed a little.

After the others had filed out of the room, Eve waved a hand and the room was sealed by a sound proof magical shield. Prue nodded her thanks as the old woman took up sentry at the door. She then turned back to Luke. "Okay now what?"

"We have to take off her clothing and any jewelry she's wearing."

Prue nodded. "I've got her clothes, you get her necklace."

They completed the task in silence as quickly as possible. Prue had a little trouble getting the dress off while trying to keep her cousin still, but she was silently relieved that Deirdre curled into the fetal position once it was over. Necessary or not, Prue had no wish to see any more of her cousin than she had to. When she looked back at Luke, he was staring at his sister's warped feet with a look of deep concentration.

"What is it?"

"How long ago did this start?" Luke asked.

Prue thought about it. "Her bones started shifting while we were in the garden."

The boy shook his head. "No, when did she first start acting strangely?"

"Define strange." Prue said with just a hint of sarcasm.

"Eyes flashing gold. Displays of uncharacteristic strength. Attracting large numbers of the opposite sex..."Luke trailed off.

Prue thought about it a minute. _The club_. She looked at her watch. "An hour and a half. Maybe two."

"Damn." Luke grumbled. "The garden was an hour ago, and she hasn't been able to do it on her own yet."

"We had to release a Binding spell on her." Prue said biting her lip.

"Come again?"

"She had a spell on her that was keeping her from shapeshifting."

Luke's eyes flashed gold in rage before returning to normal. *Witches*

"How long?" he said through gritted teeth.

"I don't know." Prue stammered, seeing his anger and Deirdre's pain. "A few years at least."

"Fuck." Luke shouted. "She can't do it on her own."

"What happens if she doesn't Change on her own?" Prue was getting really worried now.

"What always happens when one of us gets caught in the Flip," Luke said bitterly. "She'll die."

Prue gasped, tears coming to her eyes. "Can't you help her?"

Luke shook his head vigorously, a look of disgust on his face. "There's only one way a male Wolfen can help a female Flip, and I am not doing _that_ with my sister."

"If I may interject." Eve said, having watched them silently up until now. "I believe you hold the key to this dilemma in your pocket."

Luke looked confused and patted at his pockets. He withdrew a small wrapped parcel from his front pants pocket. "The package for Luna." He mumbled. "I completely forgot."

Hearing his sister whimper in pain, Luke ripped open the carefully wrapped tissue paper. Inside was a pendant with a huge stone in the middle. The stone was smooth with swirling colors that glowed eerily.

"A mood necklace?"

"The Eye of Morpheus." Eve corrected. "It was lost by its Kindred guardian in the concentration camps of World War II. It can amplify existing telepathic connections and create dreamscapes. You can use it as a means to reach inside her mind and set it free."

Luke nodded his understanding. "How does it work?"

"You must touch her with it, and activate your shared connection. You'll be taken into her subconscious. From then on, it's up to you." Eve concluded.

Luke nodded, and turned to Prue. "You coming?"

Prue shook her head. "I'm not telepathic. I'll stay here and look after you and Deedee."

"Who?"

"Deirdre." She chuckled. "Her name is Deirdre."

Luke stared at his sister, placing the name to her face. He placed the pendant gingerly to her forehead and closed his eyes. He pushed at their mental connection slightly, willing the Eye to do its job. After a minute, he felt almost ready to give up. Then he felt a tugging sensation and his mind went into a spin. He felt like Alice falling headlong down the rabbit hole.

When the feeling stopped, Luke opened his eyes. He was no longer in the Halliwell's attic with Deirdre by his side. He was alone now, surrounded by trees. It was a bit of a cliché, he thought, for a dreamscape to be in the middle of a forest. Luke gave a mental shrug and started walking. _Not my psyche._

The further he walked, the more Luke realized that he knew this forest. He knew it like the back of his own hand, because he'd run the length of it twenty times over a day, on both four legs and two. It was the Forest of Wolf Lake. Luke was home.

"But how would she know this place?" Luke said aloud. Behind him, he heard a high pitched giggle. Luke turned slowly in 360 degrees. Seeing no one, he growled, warning any mischief makers in the forest to lay off. The giggle sounded again, this time more pronounced.

"Who's there?" he called out. There was the giggle again. He listened closely to it, his head involuntarily tipping back so he could see the source. Up in a tree a few feet away, sat the giggling pixie of a girl. She couldn't have been more than four years old. She wore a white Easter dress complete with white patent leather shoes, and her chestnut colored hair reached halfway down her back.

"How did you get up there?" Luke asked. The branch she was sitting on must have been at least ten feet up. Luke blinked back the dizzy feeling he got from his head being back so far. When he opened his eyes, she was gone.


	13. The Dreamscape

Lucas felt a tug at his pant leg and turned to see the little girl standing behind him. Her hands were balled on her hips, the very picture of four year old fury.

"You're late." She said angrily.

"I'm...sorry?" Luke replied confused.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting for you?" She hissed, stamping her foot matter of factly.

"Well it might help if I knew who you were." Luke pointed out.

The girl's lip began to quiver and tears came to her eyes. "You don't remember?"

Luke stooped down in front of her and took her smaller hands in his. "Look, don't cry. I have a horrible memory. Ask anyone."

"She said you'd forget about me." The little girl wept. "She said you'd all forget about me. And now Mommy is gone, and I have no one to play with. I'm all alone."

"Hey," He muttered, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "I'll play with you. We can play any game you want."

The girl smiled for a moment before a mighty roar ripped through the forest. Frightened, the girl grabbed Luke's hand and started to pull him away from the direction of the noise. "We have to go. It's coming this way!"

"What's coming this way?"

"The Chase."

Hearing the roar again, Luke picked up his companion and started running away from the sound. He barely got a few feet before a large female wolf came racing through the underbrush toward him. Because the light coming through the trees dyed everything green, Luke couldn't tell exactly what color her pelt was, but she was definitely larger than most of the females he saw on a regular basis.

The Wolf stopped dead in the middle of her stride when she saw Luke and the girl, and began to growl menacingly.

"No!" the girl cried.

"It's okay," Luke reassured. "I won't let her hurt you."

"No!" she cried again. This time, he realized she was actually talking to the Wolf. "He won't hurt me. He's here to help us."

The Wolf cocked her head to one side in thought, and then ducked it to cautiously nuzzle Luke's leg. He stooped down, setting the girl on her feet so they could both run their fingers through the Wolf's soft fur. It began to lap at the girl's hands affectionately.

Luke chuckled. "Is she a friend of yours?"

A cold rhythmic clapping sound sounded out from somewhere to Luke's right and the girl cried out again. The Wolf turned around, placing herself between Luke and the girl, and whoever was clapping. A spiky haired figure stepped out from behind a rather large oak and the Wolf growled at it in warning, letting out a howl when the figure continued to approach.

Luke put himself in front of the girl as the figure, who he could make out now as a woman, stopped a few paces in front of him. She was about his height, and she wore a long leather trench coat over fatigues and steel toed boots. She stopped clapping to pull a cigarette out from behind her ear. As she lit it, the flint-strike illuminated her face. Luke was shocked to see his sister's face half covered in blue war paint.

Deirdre took a long drag on her cigarette as she regarded the trio in front of her.

"Well," she said in a thick Cockney accent Luke hadn't noticed her having before. "Isn't that sweet? A right proper family reunion this."

Luke got the distinct impression, looking into her cold eyes, that this was not the person he was supposed to be setting free. "Who are you? What do you want with us?"

Deirdre let out a cackle. "Who am I? Well aren't you the bright boy, invading a girl's turf without bothering to do your homework?"

She jumped over a low tree stump, landing so she was sitting on it. "I, my dear boy, am The Slayer. And this," she spread her arms out to illustrate. "This is my Forest... As for what I want. I don't give a monkey's blue bollocks about you. I've just come for the child and the mongrel there."

"We're not going back with you." The little girl whimpered from behind Luke. "We're both staying here with him."

The Slayer chuckled. "Aw. An' what's he gonna do, luv? Protect you, will he? He dun give a damn about you, sweets. It's like I said, he forgot all about you just like the rest of 'em."

"I'm here now." Luke said resolutely. He still didn't have any idea what he was supposed to have forgotten, but now didn't seem like the time to ask.

A cold smile spread across the Slayer's face. "Are you now? And what do you plan to do, eh? How do you plan to protect them from the monsters when they come? And believe me, they will come...You can't stay here forever. It's my job to keep us all alive."

"By keeping them prisoner?"

She shrugged, "S' as good a way as any. Besides, it's not like this is a bad place. As long as they stay quiet, and remember their place, everything will be just fine."

Luke shook his head. "Everything is not fine. Do you even know what's going on out there? The Change has come upon you. If you continue to hold them prisoner, then all of you will die."

As if to illustrate his point, the light that filled the forest began to dim, turning from bright emerald to sickly blue. The trees began to shake, branches breaking off around them. Leaves wilted and died before their eyes. It was as if the physical pain Deirdre was feeling was finally manifesting itself in the dreamscape.

"Sooner or later, everything dies." The Slayer stated blankly.

"But not like this!" Luke insisted. His heart pumping hard as the forest continued to deteriorate. The realization dawned on him that he was running out of time to save his twin. "I just found my sister again. I can't lose her. No, the three of us are leaving this place together, and you aren't going to stop us."

The Wolf growled her agreement, squaring up to her opponent. The Slayer sneered, stubbing out her cigarette against her boot heel. "You want a piece of me, mutt? Well, then, come and get it."

The Wolf launched itself at the Slayer, forcing her to tumble backwards over the tree stump she sat on. Fangs sank into the Slayer's arm and she screamed. Flinging the animal into the hardest tree trunk she could find, the Slayer rose to her feet. A wicked looking axe appeared in her hands and she advanced on the Wolf who bared her crimson soaked fangs.

The forest floor began to pitch and shake violently and Luke grabbed hold of the little girl again to steady her. A blinding green light shot out from deep in the forest just as the Wolf and Slayer were springing at each other. When Luke opened his eyes again, he was amazed to see both females frozen in mid air, much like Deirdre had been in Luna's garden. However, unlike the incident in the garden, both the Slayer and the Wolf were fully alert, and able to growl at each other from behind locked jaws.

"Enough!" sounded a booming voice from behind Luke. As he spun around, the frozen fighters swiveled their eyeballs as best they could to the little girl standing behind him. Her eyes were glowing green like white hot jade stones, and Luke got the feeling that the person speaking wasn't the same little girl he had met upon arriving in the Forest.

"The boy has returned to us." Spoke the booming voice out of the child's mouth. It sounded like an army of voices at once. "We shall show him what was forgotten and the decision will then be made concerning the future."

"I don't understand." Luke protested

Without another word, the little girl grabbed his hand. Luke looked down at their clasped hands and realized his own had become much smaller than usual. Looking down at his clothes, he realized he was dressed like a preschooler, Velcro sneakers and all. When he looked up again, the scene around him had changed. He was standing in his own backyard, but everything seemed larger. The little girl standing in front of him, sans glowing eyes, was his same height. It occurred to Luke that he must be seeing through the eyes of his own four-year-old self.

All this past through Luke's mind an instant before the girl from the Forest, who he instinctively knew to be his sister, shoved him to the ground playfully. She yelled out triumphantly, "Tag! You're it!"

As she ran away giggling, Luke quickly pulled himself up and raced after. He rounded a nearby tree and ran head long into a taller figure. He recognized the older boy as a second grader that his older sisters Amanda and Ruby often babysat. Rico had always hated and picked on Luke, because he was the son of the Alphas.

"Well, well." Rico sneered. "If it isn't the wittle prince. Did you fall down and get your robes all muddy, your Highness?"

"Leave me alone! You shouldn't be here." Young Luke countered.

"Ah, but see, I am here." Rico sneered. "My dad is meeting with yours, up there in your big old house. All the grown ups are in there in a meeting. So, it's just you and me out here, Lukey."

Rico pushed Luke down and kicked him hard in the shins. Luke tried to get up but he took a few more blows before he heard his sister's voice cry out. "You leave him alone!"

Rico spun in Deirdre's direction. "And what are you gonna do, princess? I'm bigger than you are."

"I mean it." Deirdre warned again, her hands on her hips. "Leave him alone or else."

Rico smirked and turned back to Luke. "So, you've got your sister fighting for you now? We'll see about that."

The older boy raised his foot and stomped down hard on one of Luke's hands, crushing it.

Luke screamed and locked eyes with his twin. Her pretty, girlish features twisted up as she charged Rico. In that moment, Luke wished for nothing less than for Rico to hurt as much as he did. As Deirdre's hands connected with Rico's back, green mist shot out of them into him. For a moment, Deirdre held on, bolts of green electricity shooting into Rico. His screams echoed through the yard before he collapsed into convulsions on the lawn.

The twins looked at each other with terror and shock at what had just happened. A minute later, there were half a dozen grown-ups surrounding them, demanding to know what happened. Time slowed down, and suddenly Luke was sitting in his bedroom, half of which was decorated in unfamiliar pink décor, with his sister sitting next to him on his bed. They were both still in four-year old bodies, and they were huddled together as if their lives depended on it.

He had his arm around Deirdre as she wept uncontrollably. "I _hiccup_ didn't mean to.. _hiccup_. He _hic_ was hurting _hic_ you."

"It'll be alright." Luke insisted, his own voice sounding watery. "Mommy and Daddy can't stay mad forever. 'Least that's what Ruby says."

Deirdre shook her head. "Mommy was so _hic_ mad!"

Just then, Willard and Vivian Cates entered the room, followed by two people Luke had never seen before. It was obvious that his mother too had been crying, but she put on a stern face as she introduced the newcomers. "Luke, Deirdre, this is my sister, your aunt Gloria. And this is her husband, your uncle Adam."

The twins gave perfunctory greetings at their mother's patented 'remember your manners' look. Adam and Gloria both gave them warm looks. Gloria moved toward Deirdre. "How would you like to come and spend some time with me at my castle, hmm?"

Luke's eye's lit up. "You've got a castle?! I wanna go!"

His mother let out a whimper and muttered something to the effect of "I can't do this," before fleeing the room.

Willard knelt down next to Luke and began to speak in slow measured tones.

"Your mom and I have decided that it would be best if Deirdre went and spent some time with your aunt and uncle." He began.

"You're sending me away?" Deirdre cried.

Luke couldn't believe what his dad was saying, "No! Don't take Deedee away!"

Willard had evidently anticipated this reaction because he motioned to Gloria. The woman, who was clearly Vivian's twin, scooped Deirdre up into her arms. The child struggled so much; she had to be handed off to Adam, who started to carry her across the room and through the doorway.

Deirdre screamed for her mother, and when Vivian didn't rush to her side as usual, Deirdre shouted for Luke. Luke sprung from the bed ready to come to his sister's aid, but Willard caught him around the middle, mid pounce.

"Deedee!" Luke screamed after his twin, before he felt a sharp prick in his shoulder and everything went black.

* * *

 

When Luke opened his eyes again, he was back in the Forest. The Slayer and the Wolf now stood like statues on either side of Little Deirdre. All of their eyes glowed green. The child spoke in the same deep voice she had before. "So now you see what has come before."

"They sent her away." Luke nodded, his heart twisting. "She was trying to protect me and they sent her away."

"They were afraid." He heard the Wolf's voice in his head. "They wanted to protect the Pack."

"But the time has come when the Pack can no longer protect itself." Dream Deirdre intoned.

"A battle is coming from which the Wolfen cannot hide." The Slayer said.

Luke's brow knitted. "I don't understand. What does this have to do with my sister?"

"Three of your Pack's blood will be called to lead all Wolfen in the coming battle." Dream Deirdre replied. "One will represent the heart and hope of your people."

"One will be the mind and reason of the people." Said the Wolf.

"And one will be the strength and spirit of the people." The Slayer said

"And all will be connected to you." Dream Deirdre finished. "You will be the catalyst to bring them together, and to help them in their shared destiny."

"So you're saying Deirdre is one of these three?"

Dream Deirdre nodded. "We are the parts of Deirdre that are trying to become whole. But we cannot be whole in exile. The Change is only the first step. We must become one with the Pack once more."

"So, what can I do to help?" Luke asked.

"Open your heart." Dream Deirdre held out her hand. "You must show Deirdre that she is wanted, that she is loved, and that she has a place in your Pack. Then you must show the Pack that the bonds of blood and birth cannot be broken, even in the face of pain and fear. Do you accept this challenge?"

Luke took a deep breath and stepped forward, taking Dream Deirdre's hand. "I accept."

The next minute, Luke felt a pulling sensation. It was as if he was being sucked back up the rabbit hole in reverse. As his mind pulled away, he could feel a change in Deirdre, The Change. Her mind had given up the struggle against her body as her various personalities ceased fighting against each other. Luke came back into his own body just as the physical transformation was taking place.

While time had past slowly for Luke in the dreamscape, Prue had been watching intently at her cousins' interaction for only a few minutes. She'd seen Deirdre's body still when Luke had placed the stone to her head. She'd watched as halfway through Luke's trance, both siblings had begun to convulse. Then, when Luke fell onto his side after pulling out of the mind-meld thing, Prue witnessed the most amazing physical change come over Deirdre.

There was a flash of light as Deirdre's body shifted, the form becoming smaller and more compact, face morphing into muzzle, and flesh melting into soft fluffy fur. Prue looked at her cousin and gasped. This wasn't like any werewolf she'd ever seen. It was beautiful.

There were no tortured cries to the moon, no hunched backs or gnarled fangs. What lay before the witch was what looked to be a completely normal, if slightly oversized, pure white wolf. The only thing marring her snow white fur was a thin black spiral of hair centered on the wolf's forehead.

Deirdre opened her huge wolf eyes just long enough to acknowledge the witch before her and lock gazes with her brother. Luke looked into her eyes for a moment before she passed out. Then, he took in the sight of the rest of her, white pelt, black spiral and all.

"Oh shit." Was all he could say before giving into his exhaustion and following his twin into unconsciousness.

Deirdre's body morphed back into human form, and Prue was left gawking at them both. After a moment, she felt Eve's hand on her shoulder. She had forgotten the old woman was even in the room. All the same, she accepted the blanket Eve handed her and carefully laid it over Deirdre's once again naked human form.

"Well," The oldest Charmed One sighed to herself. "That went well."


	14. Parting Ways Again

Deirdre stood in the Halliwell's garden, and stared into the cup of tea that Phoebe had been good enough to make for her. Horus squawked in concern from his closed cage, but she barely took notice. She had yet to get a handle on her senses after the Flip, and the similarly life shattering explanations she'd had to endure after. It was all the teen could do to stay upright and on her feet.

"Bugger it." She said, collapsing in a mound of terry-cloth robe and post-pubescent limbs on the cobblestones below the cage. Her various relatives had decided to give her space for the time being, seeing as how her whole life had just been turned on its ear.

"A werewolf." Deirdre whispered to the falcon. "I am a werewolf.... And a Slayer... with witches for cousins, an Immortal for a father, a ghost for a grandmother, a crazy Indian for a grandfather....and a dead boyfriend to top it all off."

 _I'm sorry_. She heard whispered into her mind. Letting out the breath she'd been holding, Deirdre looked up at the boy who had just joined her. Sighing, she scooted over, making room on the ground for him to sit.

Her brother brought up a whole host more of painful revelations. There was Hunter's death, which she assumed had prompted the apology. Then, there were the family issues. The first and foremost of these was that her Mom, Gloria, was not actually her mother. For as long as Deirdre could remember, she had been the only beloved child of Gloria Pierson, and equally loved adopted daughter of Adam.

She guessed, the only reason they'd even told her that Adam wasn't her real father, was the Immortal factor. The truth was that her biological mother had given her up, keeping her twin brother to raise. She'd apparently been completely forgotten by her biological family, as well as by her home town at large.

 _I'm sorry_. She felt the flood of guilt again over the mental connection she shared with her twin. She turned to him and shrugged. "It's alright Luke, I forgot about you as well. Maybe it was magic or maybe it wasn't. I mean hell, we were only four at the time. And it's not like either of us had a choice. Besides, I was raised by good people that loved me."

Luke scoffed. "Yeah, I thought I was too."

Deirdre looked at him intently; memorizing the lines of a face she should have known her whole life. "How are you holding up?

Luke gave a hollow laugh. "What? To the news that my father wasn't really my father? I'm doing peachy."

The explanation about Penny Halliwell's son Seth being the twins' biological father had hit Luke especially hard. As had the subsequent revelation that Sherman Blackstone had been Seth's father. He'd met and wed Penny while on sabbatical in San Francisco. When their romance had fallen apart, he'd taken their two young sons back to Wolf Lake to raise, with her blessing. Apparently, Penny had never been very good with boys.

Deirdre shrugged. "Your Dad was your real dad. Just like my Mom was my real mom. They loved us. They raised us. To hell with the biology."

Luke smirked. "I wish I could accept it being that simple. But in the eyes of the Pack, blood is everything."

"You make them sound like vampires."

 _If the shoe fits_. Luke thought, only to have a mental chuckle sent back to him. His thoughts moved to Sophia, and how badly she'd been treated by the Pack for being what they called Zoobait.

"No, what I mean is that Pack bonds are linked to common ancestry. Half-breed Wolfen are stigmatized. Humans are seen as inferior, and any wolf who Mates with one is considered tainted, as are their young."

Deirdre considered this for a bit, and shook her head. "Sounds like a lot of elitist piffle to me. But, if it makes you feel any better, you're only a fourth human."

"How do you figure?"

"Well, what's-her-name is a werewolf."

"Wolf. We use the term Wolfen...and our mother's name is Vivian."

Deirdre rolled her eyes and continued. "Sherman is apparently human, while Gramms was a descendant from one of the greatest lines of witches in history. So the way I look at it, we're part human, part wolf, part witch."

Luke nodded, brightening after a beat. "Add that to all those personalities floating around in your head, and what do you get?"

"Well it sure isn't a date, I can tell you that." Deirdre laughed. Seeing her brother's face fall again, she mentally kicked herself. "Look, Luke, I dunno what I feel about what happened with you and Hunter. I was so angry earlier, but honestly, I can't feel anything for that loss right now. With everything else that's happened tonight, I'm numb to it. "

"And when it hits you again?"

"I don't know. Logically, I get that he did this horrible thing, and you had to avenge your Pack-mate. And I can't actually say that I was in love with him. We never even made love. But he was my friend, and he watched my back when I needed it. On the other hand you're my brother...and we've lost so much time already. What do you say we cross that bridge when we come to it?"

Luke sighed, nodding toward the glass doors of the Manor. "What're we gonna do about them?"

Deirdre looked into the parlor through the stained glass doors to see Piper and her Dad in the midst of another heated argument. Phoebe and Leo were trying to talk them both down while Prue and Eve sat drinking tea. Meanwhile, Gramms and Sherman awkwardly attempted to slow dance.

"Adults!" She exclaimed, rolling her eyes again. "The majority of the people in that room spent the last day and a half trying to save me from my fate, and they can't get along for even five minutes now that they've achieved that goal. What do you call that?"

"Family." Came the reply from behind her.

 _Damn, damn, damn!_ Deirdre mentally cursed her jumbled senses as she scrambled to her feet. Seeing Luke do the same, she put herself bodily between her brother and the newcomer.

Julian Luna melted out of the shadows in a way Deirdre had only seen evil Sabbat vampires do. Had her Slayer senses been in control as usual, she'd have felt him slip into the garden. As it was, all she could do was react.

"What do you want, Kindred?"

Rage bubbled beneath the Ventrue Prince's cool exterior. "Easy Slayer, I didn't come to fight. I have three issues to put to you and your new friend here."

Luke stepped out from behind Deirdre. "I'm her brother."

A brief look of shock past over Luna's face, but he hid it quickly. "If you say so. Now then, there is the matter of you having a piece of my property."

Luke patted his pockets. Removing the Eye of Morpheus, he tossed it to Luna. "Okay, so that's one issue. What's the next?"

The Prince turned to Deirdre. "In light of your outburst this evening, I'm nullifying our truce. I'm giving you two days to get your affairs in order Slayer. After that, I want you out of my City."

"You honestly think you have the right to ban me from my home?" Deirdre asked, glaring.

"Whether I do or not, in two days I'm calling open season on you. There won't be anywhere in San Francisco for you to hide."

Luke bristled. "This is not the way to build relations between our two peoples, Luna."

"I have to protect my own people first Master Cates. Tell your mother that I will welcome any member of the Wolf Lake Pack that wishes to visit my City. Any member with the exception of Deirdre Pierson."

Luke looked ready to chew the Kindred out, but Deirdre held out a hand to stop him. "Very well, two days it is. Which brings us to your third issue."

"The Wolf that young Hunter Embraced." Luna addressed Luke.

"Tyler Creed."

Luna nodded. "Yes, Tyler. He will need to remain in this City."

Luke nearly lost it, "You have no right to keep a member of my Pack here, Luna. Especially after one of your people violated him."

"I realize that. But he will need to be trained how to use his Kindred abilities. If you and Mr. Blackstone would return to my compound, I'm sure we can work this out to everyone's mutual satisfaction."

Luke looked unsure and turned to his sister. _What do you think?_

Deirdre looked Luna over and responded telepathically. _He's on the level. Whatever else Luna is, he's a Prince of the Masquerade. He won't risk a war with the Wolfen that might expose his people._

_Will you be okay here... if I go?_

_I've survived over a dozen years with us apart._ She chuckled mentally. Off his look, she sighed aloud. "Go. I'll be fine."

As Luke went back in the house to get Sherman, Deirdre turned to Luna. "Two days notwithstanding Luna, you hurt my brother, Sherman or Creed, and I will eviscerate you."

"Fair enough, Slayer. You harm any of my people, and I'll rip your throat out."

With that, The Prince melted back in the shadows and disappeared again. Behind Deirdre, Horus began to squawk again. She spun around and glared at him. "Oh you're a real help."

* * *

 

The next day, Deirdre crouched in front of her mother's tomb stone, tears running down her face.

"I have to go now, Momma. Doc and I have a plane out to London in a few hours. We're going to stop over there for my birthday, then on to Paris and Tibet. He says a little time there will help me regain my focus. Whatever that means.... I wanted to tell you that I don't blame you for not telling me about Luke and Vivian....Wolf Lake... all that stuff. You had your reasons...I don't know if I'll ever get back this way again. But if I don't, I want you to know that I love you...and I'm glad you were the one to raise me."

She placed a kiss on her fingertips and brushed them across the lettering on the marble.

GLORIA ANNE PIERSON

1960-2001

BELOVED MOTHER, DEVOTED FRIEND

MAY SHE RUN FREE FOREVER

As she rose to her feet, the teenager was enveloped by a warm hug. Prue kissed the top of her head and locked gazes with her. "I know how much this all must hurt. I also know that there's nothing I can say to make it better. But you need to know that you still have family in this town that love you."

Piper came up behind her cousin and patted her back comfortingly. "And we're only a call away if you need to talk."

Phoebe stepped forward, smiling softly. "Yeah, and Prince or no Prince, you know where to find us if you ever need help."

Deirdre hugged each of her cousins, biting back her tears as she whispered "Thank You" to each of the Halliwell sisters. Her father was standing several yards away, leaning against his rented SUV. He had paid his respects to his ex-wife and was now just waiting on Deirdre.

The Slayer headed toward Adam but was waylaid by the sight of her brother standing by a nearby tree. As she walked up to him, Deirdre noticed the troubled look on his face.

"I don't get it." Luke said.

Deirdre smiled slightly, she was becoming quite fond of the similarity between her twin's expressions and her own. "What don't you get?"

"You're leaving."

"Well, you know, the threat of death can be a strong motivator." She chuckled.

Luke glared at her. "I mean, you're leaving and you're not coming with us. Why aren't you coming back to Wolf Lake?"

Deirdre's shoulders slumped. "I don't belong there any more than I belong here, Luke."

"You're part of the Pack."

"The Pack doesn't want me. They threw me out. Remember?"

Luke sighed and tried a different tack. "Would it make any difference if I said I need you?"

Deirdre teared up again. Wrapping her arms around her brother, she whispered. "Of course it makes a difference."

Stepping back, she handed him a cell phone. "It has my mobile number programmed in. You can also reach me by e-mail and text message, and it has a walkie talkie feature. State of the Art. I have an identical phone. You can reach me anytime day or night, anywhere in the world, and it can't be traced. It's just in case our mental mojo doesn't span the globe."

Luke stared at the cell phone for a moment before slipping it into his pocket. "Is it gonna be another decade before I see you again?"

"You're not gonna get rid of me that easy." Deirdre said enigmatically as she walked away. "Oh and if we don't speak before then, Happy Eighteenth Birthday."

"You too, sister." He whispered. "You too."

Adam opened the door for his daughter. Eve had elected to stay in San Francisco for a while to impart knowledge to The Charmed Ones, so he and Deirdre had the vehicle all to themselves. When they'd both strapped themselves in, he put a hand on Deirdre's shoulder. "Ready?"

"To get the hell outta Dodge? Not really, Doc." She sighed. "But then again, I don't have much choice."

Adam nodded. "And him?"

Deirdre looked out the window at Luke's retreating form. "He'll be okay. I'm sending an old friend to watch over him."

As she said this, Horus swept out of a tall tree to trail after Lucas Cates. Adam smirked. "You remember the family motto?"

Deirdre nodded, a hollow feeling sinking into her chest. "Live. Grow Stronger. Fight Another Day."

"That's my girl."


	15. Golden-Eyed Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: There is a radical shift in both time and location during this chapter. This represents both a flashback, and a year's elapsed time from the previous flashback. From the time that Deirdre leaves Luke in San Francisco, and the time when she arrives in Wolf Lake, a year has past. From this chapter onward, the main story setting also shifts from that of Charmed to that of Wolf Lake.

_**San Francisco, California 2004** _

Paige Matthews gave a sigh as she hauled groceries out of the back of her car. It had been three days since Piper had told her about their cousin the Werewolf/Slayer, and Paige was getting anxious to meet Deirdre. Ordinarily, the witch would not welcome the prospect of danger or intrigue into her already hectic life, but boredom was becoming a factor. Demon attacks had been nil over the past week, and being out of work, Paige was reduced to doing all the family's chores.

Paige could safely say she'd take babysitting over grocery shopping any day, as one of the plastic bags broke onto the front porch, sending oranges everywhere. As she crouched to pick up a wayward citrus, Paige heard voices coming from inside the Manor. The front door was suspiciously ajar, and she could hear a male and a female voice arguing, both unfamiliar to her.

"All I'm saying is that someone should be here soon." Said the male voice in a soothing manner, "You should sit and relax, babe. Remember what the shaman said, about stress in your condition?"

"Yes, darling." Replied the female voice sarcastically. "But there's just something about people trying to kill us that doesn't really have the effect of calming me down!"

As the couple continued to argue, Paige crept into the house. She was very grateful she'd finally given in to Piper's request to oil the hinges on the front door. She slid her back silently along the wall in the hallway, and peeked around the corner into the living room.

The woman was young, barely into her early twenties. She wore a broom skirt, a peasant top, and had long brown hair in a braid that reached down to her waist. Her back was turned to Paige as she bickered with her companion. The man was in his early thirties. He was good looking; what Paige would have called a hottie. He wore a leather racing jacket and looked like the type of guy Paige would have dated back in her "bad boy" phase in high school.

Paige crept across the hall, trying to get back to the purse she'd left on the porch. She wanted to have easy access to her cell phone in case these were demons and she had to call Piper. She cringed as she accidentally stepped on one of her nephew's squeaky toys. The witched turned to see two pairs of glowing yellow eyes glaring at her.

"Okay, demons it is." Paige said to herself, throwing the orange she still had in hand at the couple.

It distracted the man for a moment but the woman was rounding the couch, unfazed, ready to attack. Paige searched for a weapon, seeing the large vase of flowers on the hallway table, Paige called for it.

"Flowers!" She yelled.

The bouquet sped toward her hand in a flurry of light. At the last second, she magically pitched it toward her opponent. The woman side stepped the onslaught with a speed Paige had never seen. The vase shattered just above the fireplace, flowers flying everywhere. The witch was ready to orb out when she was pinned to the wall by the man, who had somehow managed to sneak up behind her.

Again, Paige tried to flee, but mid orb, she was surrounded in a green light that hampered her escape. A growl came from the woman's throat as she advanced on Paige. For the first time, Paige was able to take in all of the girl's appearance. She was pretty, with the exception of the glowing eyes and expression of rage. She was about Paige's own height and build. And she was very, very pregnant.

"What are you doing here, witch?" the girl growled at her.

"I live here." Paige growled back. "As if you didn't know."

The man raised an eyebrow and the girl shook her head, as if to answer some unspoken question. Then she turned back to Paige. "That's bull. The Charmed Ones live here, and I know all of them. So, tell me princess, if you live here, where is Prue Halliwell?"

Paige drew a blank. Thinking that these demons must be either crazy, or horribly out of the loop, she mumbled. "She's gone."

"I realize that, being that she's not here." The girl smiled sardonically. "But where IS she?"

Paige was saved the trouble of answering, as a yell sounded out from the entryway, "Paige! Why is the porch covered in fruit?!"

Piper walked in, having just arrived home from P3, to see Paige pinned up against the wall, the two newcomers flanking her. "What's going on here?"

"Piper, what are you waiting for?" Paige shrieked "Smoke them!"

"Well, she'd have a hell of a time explaining that one to our grandmother." Said the girl huffily. She turned to Piper. "Do you know this chick?"

"Yes, Deirdre." Piper replied. "She's my sister."

After the man let Paige go, Piper introduced the young woman to Paige as their cousin. For the next twenty minutes, Piper had to explain how her older sister, Prue, had died in a demon attack, and how Paige came to live in the Manor. She explained how, with Paige's help, the Charmed One's had been reborn, and gave a brief run down of the Halliwell sisters' current lives.

By the end of Piper's explanation, Deirdre was balling. Piper had never seen her cry so hard. Paige was surprised Deirdre could switch from fury to tears so quickly. "Are you alright?"

"She'll be fine." Deirdre's companion said, escorting her to the sofa. "It's been a long trip, and with that mix up with you, Paige, and Prue's death...It's all a little much to deal with at the moment. Sorry about the wall by the way."

"No problem," Paige said good-naturedly, rubbing the shoulder where he'd grabbed her, all the same.

"I'm sorry," Piper interjected looking from her extremely pregnant younger cousin, back to the man in front of her. "Who exactly are you?"

"Oh, sorry," the man said, wiping a hand on his jeans and offering it to her. "Tyler Creed."

"Okay." Piper said shaking his proffered had. "And how do you know Deedee?"

Deirdre grunted, putting a hand to her swollen belly and turning toward her cousin. "He's my husband."

* * *

 

_**Wolf Lake, Washington, 2002** _

Vivian Cates sat in her office, listening to her son rustle around upstairs. There was apparently a basketball game at the high school today. Vivian had been relieved when Luke had consented to go at the insistence of his girlfriend, Sophia Donner.

Vee liked Sophia a lot. In addition to being the daughter of Vivian's would-be beau, Matt Donner, Sophia was gladly acting as a go between for Vivian and Luke. This was necessary, considering the strange mood Luke had been in ever since returning from San Francisco nearly a year ago.

He had been spending an inordinate amount of time around Sherman Blackstone. He had been carrying around a cell phone that Vivian had never seen before. He barely socialized with any member of the Pack, save Sophia. And he had become completely monosyllabic to his mother over the past year.

Vivian had her suspicions about what had happened in San Francisco. Some of the worst of these had been confirmed when she's received the phone call from Julian Luna, saying that Tyler Creed had been Embraced. Tyler had shown up three months later, completely changed. Only then had it come out that Luke had been the one to execute Tyler's violator.

Vivian had tried to speak to her son many times. He would just clam up and lock himself in his room for a few days. Even Sean, his best friend since kindergarten, didn't know how to reach him. It was like Luke had completely changed overnight. No longer did he act as leader to the younger so-called "Brat Pack." He was completely turned inward, and Vivian was beginning to worry for his future. The only thing preserving his place within the Pack was the fact that Luke was dating a White Wolf.

Luke ambled down the stairs, trying to bypass his mother's office as quickly as possible. Vivian came up behind him stealthily.

"Going to the game?" She asked brightly.

"Yep," He grunted.

"Is Sophia going with you?"

"Working." He shouted as he walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

As she watched Luke speed away in his car, Vivian noticed a falcon flying in the wake of the vehicle. She had seen the bird many times lately, perched in the trees around the house. Now it flew after Luke, a silent sentinel.

* * *

 

Sophia Donner was having a bad day. Half the Pack seemed to have descended on the Diner where she worked, chowing down before the big game. Luke was nowhere in sight, probably having decided to go straight to school. She'd been pulled in to cover an unexpected shift for another sick waitress. And to top it all off, she'd just had an order for a vegetarian plate for the first time ever, serving food in a town populated primarily by Wolfen.

The customer looked ordinary enough. She wore her streaked hair in a short French braid. She had on jeans and a green leather racing jacket. Sophia could tell she was a Wolf, but she set the young waitress's senses twitching like no other. Definitely an out-of-towner, Sophia guessed that the girl was from one of the obscure British Packs she'd heard about, judging by the accent.

Pouring coffee into the girl's cup, Sophia asked good-naturedly, "So, are you staying in town or just passing through?"

"Actually," the girl replied, removing her sunglasses, "I'm looking for someone, maybe you could help me."

"Order up!" Came a shout from the kitchen.

"That must be your sprout salad." Sophia said. "Hold that thought. I'll be right back."

Sophia went to pick up the tray with the green salad and iced tea. When she turned back to her table, though, she couldn't help but groan. Her customer was surrounded by three of the cattiest bitches in the Brat Pack. Presley, Rhianna, and Melody were flanked around her in a triangle. All the better to block off any exit. Sophia heard only part of Presley's opening comment.

"....is our table."

The girl raised an eyebrow, scanning the Diner, and then the faces of the women around her. "There seem to be plenty of open booths."

"Yeah, but this one is ours." Rhianna growled leaning over the table so her face was level with her victim's.

"I'm not looking for trouble here girls. All I want is to eat my lunch. Then, I'll be on my way."

"And which way would that be?" Melody cooed.

Sophia decided to speak up. "Cool it guys."

Still sore that Sophia now outranked her among the females of the Pack, Presley gave her a defiant look. "Oh, but now I'm intrigued. What way are you going, in our fine town?"

The girl sized up Presley and her flunkies and smiled. "Actually, I was looking for someone. Maybe you ladies could help me?"

Presley grinned evilly, thinking that she'd reeled in her prey. "I think we could probably help, right girls?"

"Sure," Melody smiled.

"Yeah," Rhianna replied in a sugar-coated voice. "Who ya lookin' for?"

The girl plastered on an equally sickening grin and whispered conspiratorially, "Lucas Cates."

Sophia's heart hardened at the mention of her boyfriend's name on the lips of the pretty young woman. Her dominant female Wolfen instincts kicked in. She was disturbed to feel the Beast inside her cheer as Presley poured the cup of scalding hot coffee into the girl's lap.

"Sorry, can't help you." Presley laughed.

What happened next was a blur. Before Sophia could react, Rhianna and Melody were laid out on their asses on the Diner floor. Her customer was holding Presley face down on the tabletop. The blonde's arms were pinned behind her back, incapacitating her.

Sophia was ready to move to the aid of her pack-mate, but Melody beat her to it. Holding a glass ketchup bottle, Melody looked ready to beat the girl with it, but she stopped short when she heard the girl growl.

"Try it, princess, and I promise you'll hurt worse than Goldilocks here."

To emphasize her point, she pushed Presley's face harder into the table. Melody immediately backed off. Presley was struggling against the arm restraining her. Meanwhile, the girl spoke in a calm manner, ignoring the fact that all eyes in the Diner were on her.

"I hate to tell you this, Goldie, but this welcome wagon thing you've got going leaves a lot to be desired. Now, I'm sure the locals find it cute...But I am not amused. So, I'll tell you what. Next time you pick a fight with me, I suggest you bring a bigger posse and more ammunition. Because all this crap does is waste my time, spoil my lunch, and basically piss me the hell off! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes." Presley hissed, her lips squished against the tabletop.

"Good!" the girl sang. She pulled a hundred dollar bill out of her jacket pocket and held it in the air.

"Now, who can tell me where I can find Lucas Cates?"

* * *

 

After Luke left, Vivian had gone back to working on one of the more pressing problems within the Pack, Tyler Creed. She had scheduled a meeting, for the following night, to determine what to do with the town's resident bad boy, once and for all. His wife, Ruby, had petitioned Vivian for an annulment of their marriage. Ruby had cited the fact that Tyler was now part vampire, and therefore no longer a suitable mate.

Vivian knew that this was just an excuse for Ruby to get her long-desired divorce, so she could marry her beloved John Kanin. They were unable to get any response from Tyler himself regarding the annulment.

Lately, he had been acting very much the recluse. He'd pulled away from the Pack, much as Luke had. He would either shut himself up in his house, or leave town completely for several days. Vivian had once thought Tyler would be the future leader of the Pack. Now she just didn't know. It fell to her as the Pack's elected Alpha to resolve the situation.

Vivian was shaken out of her reverie by the doorbell. She opened the door to find a young woman, about Luke's age, standing on the porch. A strange chill went through Vivian as the girl removed her glasses, like she had met her somewhere before. Her scent seemed familiar. Vivian shook it off and smiled.

"Can I help you?"

"I hope so," the girl said cordially, "I'm looking for Lucas Cates, and I was told he lives here."

Vivian was taken aback a bit when she realized the girl was a Wolf. She knew every member of her own Pack, and visitors from other packs were rare, especially young ones. A lone adolescent female was almost unheard of. Vivian cleared her throat and smiled again.

"Luke isn't home right now. But if you give me your name and where you're staying in town, I can make sure he gets back to you."

The young lady's eyes narrowed. She looked Vivian up and down, sizing her up. It was as if she was trying to gauge something about the older woman that Vivian could not fathom. There was something dangerous in that look. A moment later, the look was gone. In its place was the façade of an irritated teenager.

"It figures," The girl grumbled. "Where can I find him?"

It was Vivian's turn to narrow her eyes. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"I'm a friend of his." She replied simply.

"I know all my son's friends."

The girl grunted impatiently. "Look lady, I'm not a threat to Luke, I just want to talk to him."

"You'll forgive me if I don't take you at your word. We're quite wary of strangers here."

The girl's eyes danced, as if she found the comment immensely funny, then they turned stony again. "If you don't tell me where he is, I'm still going to find him. And, besides, if I intended to hurt the boy, I wouldn't be knocking on his front door, asking for him politely by name. So, could you please just help me out?"

Vivian crossed her arms across her chest, considering. Something about this girl seemed familiar, very familiar. She almost felt like a member of the Pack. At the same time, Vivian felt an undercurrent of power and danger uncharacteristic in one so young. Something was off.

However, the girl's logic was sound. No Wolf in their right mind would threaten the son of an Alpha Female to her face. And Vivian was a fan of keeping her friends close and her enemies closer. Since Luke was in the midst of a crowd full of people, with Sophia joining him soon, the risk was minimal. Vivian nodded.

"He should be at the high school. There's a game going on. He'll be there with his other friends."

"Thank you." The girl breathed, ignoring the thinly veiled threat.

She turned, walking back to her motorcycle, that was parked in the spacious driveway. Vivian called after her. "I still didn't catch your name!"

The girl sped away and, for a moment, Vivian thought she hadn't heard her over the roar of the bike's engine. As the Wolf Lake Pack's Alpha turned to go back inside, she was shocked to hear the girl's answer whispered directly into her mind.

_No you didn't...because I didn't give it._


	16. Home is Where the Fight is

Luke busted through the high school's back exit, in a huff. 

Sophia was by his side, and half the Brat Pack was bringing up the rear. He hadn't wanted to go to the damn game in the first place. And now that it was just getting good, they'd yanked him out with some wild story about a psycho in the Diner.

Apparently, some girl was in town looking for him, and had decided to pick a fight with Presley and some other females for the hell of it. Luke highly doubted the later part, but he hadn't had time to get the truth from Sophia. And, as usual, everyone was looking to him to fix the situation.

Luke marveled yet again at how naïve they all were, to think that a strange girl looking for him, was a crisis. But then again, they hadn't seen what he'd seen. And he wasn't about to tell them. He doubted any of them was ready to handle the truth of the Pack's sordid past. Hell, they practically had him under guard. It almost made him want to laugh. Almost.

"Okay," Luke asked grudgingly. "What did you say this chick looked like?"

"She was crazed, man. I'm telling you." Sean commented as they walked toward Luke's car.

"I told you, I'll deal with it." Luke grumbled. He looked at Sophia, his rock, for help.

"Streaked dark brown hair. Green racing jacket. Overpriced shades." She supplied.

"That's her!" Presley shouted from behind them. She pointed across the parking lot.

The girl from the Diner was leaning up against her green racing bike, smoking a cigarette. A falcon was perched on one of her handle bars. Luke stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of her, and the others tensed up around him. They waited, ready to strike if he gave them the signal. Instead, a smile spread slowly over his face and he broke into a dead run toward the girl.

To the shock of his pack-mates, Luke swept her up into a bear hug. He spun her around, as both of them laughed. He might as well have turned green or grown a second head. Most of the Brat Pack looked bewildered, as they slowly followed Luke. Sophia looked pissed.

"Dee! What are you doing here?" Luke exclaimed. "I thought you were busy contemplating ruins or something."

Deirdre shrugged. "I needed a vacation. Besides, I got worried about you after our last phone conversation. You just hung up on me."

"So you came all the way from Europe, overnight?"

It had been nearly a year since Luke had last seen his sister. They'd kept in touch with frequent conversations over their cell phones since San Francisco. She told him all about jet-setting across the globe with her Dad. He, in turn told her about his growing relationship with Sophia, and his disillusionment with his Mom and Pack-life in general.

The last time they had talked was three days ago. Luke's mother had walked in while he was talking to Deirdre, and he had hastily disconnected the call. The twins had agreed that Vivian didn't need to know about their recent reunion.

Deirdre eyed the crowd coming toward them and smiled awkwardly. "Romania, actually. By way of Seacouver. And it looks like I may be in the States a while."

"Luke?" Sophia said. She came up behind Luke, wrapping a possessive arm around his waist. "Who's your friend?"

Luke sputtered a moment. He had no idea how to introduce his friends to his long lost twin. Seeing him at a loss, Deirdre decided to save her brother. She cleared her throat, extending her hand to Sophia.

"Deirdre Pierson. But you can call me Dee." She said soothingly. "Everybody does. I'm a friend of Lucas's from San Francisco."

"Sophia Donner." Came her curt reply as she shook Deirdre's hand. "I didn't know Luke had made any friends in California."

"Yes. Well, I seem to be a surprise to a lot of people, in this town." Deirdre smiled. Luke couldn't help but snicker at this, leaving everyone else to wonder what the joke was.

Glancing at the seething brunette at his side, Luke cleared his throat. "Sophia is my girlfriend. Apparently, you met a number of my other friends at lunch today?"

Deirdre looked around at the group behind Luke and settled on the blonde behind him. "Yeah, sorry to be a bother and all. But I tend to get a bit snappish when scalded."

"Scalded?" Luke growled, turning in Presley's direction.

Sean tried to pre-empt any conflict by stepping up to Deirdre. "Soooo, you're from California, huh?"

"Not originally." Deirdre replied, grinning at the boy's attempt. "I spent a lot of time in London, growing up."

"Gotta love a lady with an accent." Sean smiled. He looked over his shoulder at his best friend. Seeing Luke raise an eyebrow, he changed tactics. "Look, Dee, was it? We seem to have all gotten off on the wrong foot. Perhaps, you'd like to spend some time in our lovely town, and get to know the real Wolf Lake?"

Luke jumped on this train of thought. "Yeah, Dee. There's a party tomorrow night, up at the lake. You've gotta come."

"Luke." Sophia interjected. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

Luke gave his girlfriend's waist a squeeze, and whispered into her mind, _Trust me._

A dark look passed over Deirdre's face. A second later, it was replaced with an innocuous smile. "I'd love to come."

* * *

 

The next night, Vivian sat in her immense office looking around at the room's other occupants. Three of them were in a heated discussion. The fourth, sat in silence throughout the meeting. They had been going over the subject of Tyler and Ruby's annulment for nearly an hour now, with little progress. This was mostly due to the fact that Tyler himself hadn't said a word all evening.

Vivian felt for Tyler. She truly did. He looked like a shell of the brash, ambitious young man he had been a year ago. Back then, he would have had a witty come back to the blatant insults John Kanin was hurling at him, or the rational arguments Matt Donner was presenting against him. A year ago, when Ruby referred to him as 'inadequate' or 'unfit', Tyler would've sneered and fought back. Now, though, he just took the abuse. He was silent as the grave throughout it all. He simply stared at the top of Vivian's desk.

"....can we even resolve this, if he won't friggin' answer a simple question?!" Kanin raged again.

Vivian took a breath. "Pack Law is iron on this subject. The fact remains that Ruby and Tyler both entered into this union willingly. And unless it can be proven that the Mating never occurred, an annulment cannot be granted. We mate for life."

Ruby threw herself to her knees in front of her husband. "Can't you just do one decent thing in your miserable life? You don't love me, and I don't love you. And you're dreaming if you think the Pack will ever accept a leader with vampire blood in him. It doesn't do either of us any good to stay married. Please, just tell her we never slept together after the wedding. It's the truth....Look at me goddamnit!"

Tyler's lifeless eyes turned to his wife's beautiful, furious face and he sighed. "Okay."

"What?" Ruby coughed. The whole room went on edge.

"I said okay." Tyler repeated, his voice gruff from lack of use over the past few months. "You can have your annulment."

Vivian was taken aback, as was the rest of the room. No one had thought that Tyler would ever agree to split with Ruby. "Tyler, are you saying now, that you never shared a bed with your wife, after your wedding?"

"I didn't have sex with her, if that's what you're trying to say Vee." Tyler replied. "I did not Mate with Ruby Cates. There, I said it. Let her go marry Loverboy, over there. Even if he is a jackass."

Vivian nodded. "Very well. As it is claimed by both parties, that mating never took place between Ruby Cates and Tyler Creed, I hereby nullify their marriage vows. It shall be known that both parties are free to mate with any members of the pack that they so choose."

An ecstatic smile spread over Ruby's face and she threw her arms around John. He spun her around and kissed her, grinning all the while. Matt was the first to congratulate the couple. Tyler took the opportunity to slip out of the office. But he didn't go unnoticed.

Vivian stopped him as he headed toward the door. "Why did you do it? I thought you always wanted to be Alpha."

"I don't know what I want anymore." He replied, looking at her with sad eyes. "I don't even know what I am anymore. Maybe she's right. Maybe I'm not fit to lead."

Vivian looked him over. She had the feeling that it was more than an identity crisis bothering Tyler Creed. He had claimed to actually love Ruby at one point. Maybe it had been truer than anyone realized.

She put a hand on his shoulder. "You'll find someone, Tyler."

"Yeah." He smiled bitterly. "But how will she find me?"

* * *

 

Meanwhile, up at the lake, the rave was in full swing. There was sex, booze, and Rock N' Roll everywhere. The only two people who weren't getting smashed were Sophia and Deirdre. For Luke's sake, Sophia had promised to be civil, but there was something still bothering her about the other girl.

Luke had insisted on going out to the woods with Deirdre earlier that morning. Sophia had followed them, despite herself. The pair had spent the morning in virtual silence, exploring the forest together. If Sophia hadn't known better, she'd have said that they had a private mental bond. She wondered just how friendly the two had become back in California.

Luke was the other enigma. For months, he hadn't shown the slightest interest in his packmates. But now that Deirdre was here, he was back to being the same old Luke. It was as if some weight had been lifted from his shoulders. What worried Sophia, was the fact that, though she had tried for months to break through that shell, the other girl had broken through it in minutes.

Sophia bit her lip and walked over to Deirdre. "Not drinking then?"

"Never when I'm working." Deirdre mumbled.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing." Deirdre seemed to be watching the crowd intensely, as if waiting for something. She turned slightly toward Sophia. "So, how long have you and Lucas been together?"

Sophia tried to gauge the question. "We've been dating a little over a year now. Why do you ask?"

"Just making conversation." Deirdre replied dismissively. "Just wondering what Luke-y boy's been up to over the years."

"Over the years?" Sophia scoffed. "You met him, what, a year ago? Then you breeze into town, hunting him down, and now you want to know all about him? Who the hell are you?"

Deirdre raised an eyebrow at the outburst. "There's no need to get testy, sweetheart. I'm here for Luke, that's all you need to know."

Deirdre returned to the business of watching the crowd, having nothing more to say on the matter. Sophia, a normally extremely level headed person, stomped her way over to Luke, fuming. He was in a drunken wrestling match with Sean in one of the remote clearings on the edge of the woods. Sophia yanked her boyfriend up by his collar. She was about to demand that he tell her who Deirdre was, when she saw a flicker of motion from the tree-line.

A split second later, a large group of shadowy figures melted out of the woods, a few feet away. Before Sophia had time to process what they were, one of the creatures had crept up behind her. It caught her about the waist and clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Hello, princess." The thing whispered into her ear, it's fangs millimeters from her throat.

About seven others, humanoid looking figures surrounded her. Their faces were warped, and it took her a moment to register that two of them were restraining Luke and Sean as well. She glanced up the beach, ready to call mentally to her packmates. Her captor seemed to sense her intent as he tightened his grip.

"Now we'll have none of that." He grumped. "I don't have much taste for wolf blood, but we can make a banquet of your friends if you force us."

The creature holding Luke chuckled. "Maybe just a taste."

Luke was too drunk to really process the situation. His reactions were slowed down so much that all he could focus on was Sophia struggling. The fact that the creature holding him was tipping his head to the side, and leaning in to bite him didn't really register.

The whistling sound that passed right by his head did register though. A moment later, his captor crumbled to dust, and everyone in the clearing spun to see Deirdre standing by. She was holding a crossbow, which she made a show of recocking.

"Anyone else want a taste?"

"Who the hell are you?" the leader cried, gripping Sophia tighter.

"Just call me Annie Oakley." Deirdre quipped as she let another bolt fly.

Sophia elbowed him in the gut and was able to drop to the ground a second before the bolt hit home. The leader crumbled to dust all around her. She heard growling from the remaining creatures as Deirdre taunted them. By the time Sophia got to her feet, Deirdre had taken off running, trailing the other six creatures into the woods behind her.

Sophia rushed to Luke's side. "Are you okay?"

Luke seemed to sober up as she pulled him to his feet. "Yeah, I'm cool. Sean?"

"Yeah man." Sean replied jumping up himself. "What were those things?"

"I'm pretty sure they were vampires. Did you see where they went?"

"They chased Deirdre into the forest." Sophia replied.

"Great." Luke hissed. "Here we go again."


	17. Cage Fight by Moonlight

_Run._

The voice of the Wolf had returned to Deirdre Pierson. As she ran through the forest of Wolf Lake, she felt as if she'd returned home. The voice inside her was moving her through the oddly familiar brush without error.

Her ultra heightened senses told her there were six vamps on her tail. She was racing to keep ahead of them, while weaving through the trees to keep them interested in the chase. It wouldn't do to leave any of them behind to wreak havoc.

"Still..." she mumbled to herself.

Deirdre caught hold of a smooth trunk and spun herself around it like a pole. At the same time, she shot her crossbow into the darkness. She heard a scream of pain and smiled, knowing the bolt had hit her target. She spun back in her original direction and hit the ground running. _One down_.

The forest seemed to open itself to Deirdre. It was like an old friend greeting her after a long absence. Every step she landed was true to its mark, and every inch brought her closer to her destination. She still had a few moments' lead, but not much more. _Then again,_ she smiled, _I don't need much more_.

* * *

 

Tyler Creed lumbered over to his jeep lazily. He'd finally done it. He'd severed his last tie in Wolf Lake. The rest of the Pack probably wouldn't even notice if he up and left now. Not being Mated with Ruby, and being a freak in the eyes of his pack-mates, it was probably better if he just left.

But just as he was about to climb into his Jeep and drive off into the night, life threw Tyler another curveball. A shadow jumped out of the woods and into the bright moonlit Cates' driveway. As the figure's feet hit the pavement, she looked up at Tyler. That's when he got a good look at her face. It was a face that had haunted him in recent months.

He gasped, "You!"

Deirdre looked up, momentarily startled by the interruption. Her eyes went wide when she saw his face.

"You!" she gasped.

A pang of old guilt hit the Slayer in the chest. Then she remembered she didn't have time for it. She tossed her crossbow at him. "Catch!"

Deirdre didn't wait to see if he caught it, but spun back around to face the woods. She grabbed five objects out of her jacket pockets, throwing four of them in a semi-circle around the perimeter of the driveway. She stuck the fifth crystal stone into the pocket of her cargo-pants and shed the jacket entirely.

From his vantage point, Tyler only had time to register the Sid Vicious T-shirt, tattoos, and wooden stake before the forest exploded with activity. There were five vampires in all: two females, one dressed like a heroin chic Goth girl, and the other a Viking/biker the size of a bulldozer. The three males were more varied. One was gangly, just this side of sewer rat, with similar facial features. Another was right out of a kung-fu movie. The last was dressed like Jim Morrison on too many tequila sunrises.

A smile spread over the Slayer's face as they charged her. The Goth chick was the first to go. Deirdre blocked her on-coming right cross, snapping her arm backwards and staking her in the back. The vampiress exploded into a cloud of dust. Next, Morrison and Bruce Lee decided to double team her. They engaged in a complicated succession of kicks and swings that kept Dee occupied for several minutes.

Tyler stood by, looking on in awe. He had never seen anyone move like this girl. Not a Wolf or a Kindred, let alone any human. She moved like a dancer with deadly grace and precision. He was shaken out of his reverie when the other occupants of the house spilled onto the porch to investigate the noise.

For a moment, Ruby, Kanin, Vivian, and Donner, watched the scene in equal awe. Donner was the first to react.

"What the hell is going on Vee?"

Vivian shook her head, speechless, as she watched the girl fight. She had seemed so familiar when she had come to the door yesterday. An idea of the girl's identity was forming in Vee's mind that was too unbelievable and too incredible to fathom.

Kanin looked around at his companions. "Isn't anyone gonna help her?"

Seeing that nobody was jumping at the suggestion, John vaulted over the banister onto the driveway and attempted to join the fray.

Deirdre was momentarily distracted by the unknown new-comer to the fight, and failed to block a savage downward blow to her back. She growled in fury as kung-fu boy sliced into her back with one of his claws. She rolled forwards, grabbing hold of Kanin, and throwing him right back onto the porch where he collided with Ruby.

When she got her footing back, Deirdre sent Morrison flying with a hard jab to the chest. She then high kicked his accomplice in the chin, leaving him open to be staked in the chest from below.

Over her shoulder, she heard more noise from the underbrush as four wolves emerged. They quickly changed into Luke, Sophia, Sean, and Presley. And just as soon as they'd Flipped into human form, rat-boy was after them. Seeing that she wouldn't get to them in time, Deirdre removed the crystal from her pocket and tossed it to her brother. She sent him a quick mental image over their connection, and Luke slammed the crystal to the ground.

The vampire coming at the Brat Pack slammed into a wall of electric light. He sizzled as bars of white light seemed to form a cage around the drive way. The cage closed off Deirdre and the three remaining vampires from the rest of the onlookers. Furious, rat-boy came at the Slayer, flying through the air with a grimace glued to his warped face. All that hit the ground was a pile of ash.

With that, the Viking vamp grabbed Deirdre from behind with a death grip, placing her in a head lock at the same time. The Slayer's stake went flying. Dee countered pro-wrestling-style by kicking out and using her momentum to throw her opponent back onto the pavement in a reverse body-slam.

The effect was momentary, but long enough for Deirdre to jump over her motorcycle. The vehicle, along with Tyler's jeep had been enclosed in the cage of light. From one of her side bags, Deirdre withdrew what looked like an oversized water-balloon. She lobbed it at Viking vamp's chest and it exploded. The substance inside acted like acid eating away at the vamp's flesh as she screamed and turned to dust.

"That's enough." Deirdre heard from over her shoulder. The Morrison wannabe held a rapier in hand that he had apparently had hidden under his ankle-length pea coat.

"Slayer." He growled.

Deirdre smiled as she drew the katana that she perpetually kept hidden on her bike. She unsheathed it, throwing its scabbard aside. "Vampire."

The two began circling each other, sizing each other up. Slowly, the vampire brought his rapier up to salute. "You're going to die tonight, little girl."

Deirdre saluted with her own sword, gold slipping into her twinkling eyes. "To die will be a great adventure."

With that, the battle was on, thrusts and parries were exchanged. Slashes and impalements were narrowly avoided on both sides. At one point, they were trading blows atop Tyler's jeep. The onlookers collectively gasped as Morrison disarmed Deirdre and the katana went flying. Another gasp escaped as the Slayer back-flipped off the SUV, sliding to a halt just short of the light barrier and flipped her sword back into her grip with her foot.

The vamp was right behind her, and slashed at her with the rapier. Deirdre executed an odd-looking move that had her own sword trapped behind the rapier, which was trapped behind her neck. All seemed lost.

The vampire chuckled. "Now you die, Slayer."

The vamp swung out with his sword arm, freeing the rapier and going in for the fatal blow. Deirdre swung her katana in the opposite direction, cleanly severing the vampire's head from its neck. With a flick of her wrist, she brought the katana to rest at her side, as ashes flew in the wind.

"You first."

A collective hush swept over all present. Then there was a burst of conversation between pack-mates and questions being yelled out at the tired Slayer. With sagging, injured shoulders, Deirdre walked back to her bike, replacing the katana and pulling a pack of cigarettes out of a side bag. She lit one and walked toward Luke.

Silence settled over the Brat Pack as Luke stared back at Deirdre. The Slayer took a long drag and motioned at the crystal at his feet. "Do you mind?"

"Don't do it Luke." Presley urged "I told you she was psycho."

"Luke?" Sophia murmured, unsure.

Lucas slowly and deliberately picked the stone up. Immediately, the cage of light ceased to exist. This caught the attention of everyone. All but one of the onlookers ran down to huddle around Deirdre.

For his part, Tyler Creed blinked his eyes a few times, trying to take in what he just saw. He looked at the crossbow, still tightly gripped in his hand. And he unobtrusively melted into the shadows, walking off into the woods in the opposite direction from the group.

Deirdre smiled as Luke handed her the crystal, she slipped it back into her pocket. Then, she suddenly grabbed him by the chin, yanking his head to the left. She examined his throat, trying to gauge something in the moonlight. She yanked his head to the right and did the same thing. When she was satisfied with what she saw, she let him go.

Taking another drag, she quipped. "Looks like you'll live."

At this point, Sophia Donner had had enough. She threw herself physically between Luke and Deirdre, growling. "I will ask you one last time. Who THE HELL are you?"

The adults made concurring noises and Vivian Cates looked terrified of the answer but nodded her head. "Tell us who you are."

Deirdre looked at Luke, who simply shrugged. She glared at him and took one last drag before answering the big question of the night.

"I'm sorry. I guess it was rather rude of me not to introduce myself. My name is Deirdre Pierson, formerly Deirdre Cates, a.k.a The Vampire Slayer."

A cacophony of sound broke out at this revelation. Vivian Cates came very close to fainting. John Kanin, seemingly the only one present that was out of the loop, butted in.

"Wait a minute. Your name used to be Cates?"

"Yes," Luke announced above the din. "Deirdre is my twin sister."


	18. The Gingerbread Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Intro Trigger Warning: Intravenous Drug Use

Deirdre Pierson grunted, hearing the din of conversation that was floating up the staircase, and through the heavy wood of the bathroom door. She kicked her bag across the tiled floor, angrily. She quietly set down the empty syringe she was holding and placed her belt between her teeth.

She stared into the mirror above the bathroom sink. Gold tinged eyes mockingly glowed back at her. As the first searing pains wracked her body, her hands took a death-grip hold on the rim of the sink. The wolf inside Deirdre howled in despair and panic. Why was she doing this to it again? Why was she doing it to herself?

Deirdre just bit down harder into the bitter leather, recalling the events of the last half hour.

* * *

 

 **FLASHBACK** , earlier that night...

After the revelation of Deirdre's background, the pack-members surrounding her were in shell shock. Presley and Sean were quickly sent home. Vivian wanted to try to control the exposure of the night's story among the Pack. Hopefully, the Elders could keep the gossip from running rampant, until Vivian could call a town meeting of the "hill people."

Vivian, Ruby, John, Sophia and her father, and the twins were left standing in the Cates's driveway staring at each other. Deirdre lit up another cigarette. Matthew Donner was the first to reassert the interrogation.

"So, what exactly is going on here?" The sheriff seethed, rubbing the bridge on his nose tiredly. "What were those things?"

"Well, I don't rightly know chief. But bugger me if they didn't look like vampires." Dee sneered. She immediately got the feeling that she wasn't going to like this guy.

"They attacked us by the lake." Luke supplied. "They tried to grab Sophia."

Matt's eyes shot open at hearing this. "Are you alright?"

Sophia nodded uncomfortably, still jarred by the news that Luke had another sister. She saw her father's concern turn into rage as he rounded on Deirdre.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Matt roared at the Slayer, "You led vampires into Wolf Lake without a thought for anyone's safety?!"

Deirdre bristled at him and drew herself up tall in front of the sheriff. The challenge was unmistakable. Deirdre stood at least half a head shorter than Matt Donner, but no one there could safely say which of the two would win in a fight.

"I don't like your attitude, Serpico. However, seeing as 'twas your daughter that nearly got rowed, I'll let it slide. But if you're going to be grilling me, at least get your cause n' effect straight." Deirdre hissed in a thick cockney accent. "I followed the vamps in, not the other way 'round."

"Wait." Ruby chimed in, having been silent up until this point. "You're saying that you knew the vampires would be at the lake tonight? You knew they would attack Sophia?"

"S'right"

"But how?" Luke asked.

To answer his question, Deirdre walked over to her bike and grabbed something out of one of the side bags. She threw it to her brother, who caught it and examined the small object.

"My watch?" Luke looked confused. "I thought I'd lost it in.."

"San Francisco?" Deirdre nodded. "Phoebe found it at the Manor. She got a vision of you and a brunette girl being attacked by vamps by a big lake. I guess she and the girls are dealing with a right big villain at the moment, so she sent it to me. Couldn't let you get yourself killed, now could I?

"But you said you were in Romania."

"I've got good travel connections." Dee shrugged enigmatically.

"It didn't occur to you to warn the authorities and just preempt the whole thing?" John ventured.

"Why? Do you think you'd have believed me?" Dee put on her best damsel in distress face. "Oh, officer, you simply must help me. Vampires are about to attack your fine town. But I have no idea when and only a vague idea where!"

"Guess I see your point." John replied.

Vivian seemed to have had enough at this point. "Look, why don't we all go inside and discuss this further? Deirdre, you can tell us all about how you came to town, and how that impacts Luke and Sophia."

Deirdre looked Vivian up and down again, just as she had the day before, trying to gauge... something. Maybe the older woman's sincerity or motives? Vivian held her breath and stood unflinching under her daughter's scrutiny. She knew instinctively that she must choose her battles very carefully if she wanted any kind of relationship with Deirdre. After a moment, the younger girl broke the stare nodding.

"Just haveta take care of one small matter first."

Deirdre disappeared back into the woods for a short time. The rest of them stood around in silence, listening to what sounded to be a fight. After a moment a body flew out of the trees and onto the pavement. The vampire was a slight young male. Were it not for the fangs and warped face, they could have sworn it was a thirteen year old boy. The vamp recoiled at the sight of the lot of them, cowering as the Slayer leaped out of the shadows after him. He hugged his shoulder, through which a crossbow bolt still protruded.

"Now then," Dee said, squaring her shoulders. "You're going to tell me who sent you."

"I don't talk to Slayers." The vamp hissed.

"You misunderstand." she replied withdrawing a glass bottle from one of her pockets. She uncapped it and waved the bottle at him. "It wasn't a request. You will tell me who sent you. The amount of effort on my part to get it out of you will determine how painful your death is."

"Is this really necessary?" Sophia asked shifting nervously.

Deirdre snorted. She stooped down, crunching the vamp's injured arm under her boot. "I'm inclined to be merciful, meat. Even your intended prey speaks in your defense. And quite frankly I've had my fill of carnage for the night. So, tell me what I want to know and I'll make it quick."

"And if I don't?"

Deirdre flipped the bottle over, showing a silver sign of the cross embellished on its side. "I'll give you a bath, and then I think I'll let you sundry down by the lake."

The vamp growled for a moment, but Deirdre only raised an eyebrow and pushed her foot down harder on his arm. Through the pain, he hissed. "Forsaken."

This seemed to pique the Slayer's interest. "Which one?" When the vamp didn't answer immediately, she ripped the bolt out of his shoulder, sending him screaming into a ball. "There are three Forsaken left alive in this world. WHICH ONE IS IT?"

"I don't know" it groaned. "Wraith was the contact and you already killed him. That's all I know!"

Deirdre considered the wretched creature for a moment before sighing. "I believe you."

The vamp relaxed for a second only to recoil as the Slayer plunged the bolt into his chest, turning him to dust.

As Dee cleaned her stake. Sophia groaned. "That was barbaric!"

"Think what you like, princess." Dee replied. "but that thing meant to make you supper...or worse."

She grabbed a leather bag off the back of her motorcycle. "So, where's the washroom?"

**END FLASHBACK**

* * *

 

Deirdre staggered down the stairs, her body shaky with the substance coursing through her blood. Righting herself, she listened to the conversation happening behind the closed office doors.

"...know she's your daughter, V. But my daughter's life is the one at stake here. Those things were after Sophia after all."

"Dad, I'm okay."

"No thanks to the psycho upstairs."

"John! That's unfair."

"I'm sorry Ruby but it's true. Your little sister seems to be a tad unbalanced. Donner, back me up here. Am I wrong?"

"You're not wrong."

"In case you hadn't noticed, sheriff, my sister just saved all our lives!"

"That's enough! This discussion is over."

"Why? Because she's your kid?"

"No, jackass. Because she's standing just outside."

Deirdre took that as her invitation to enter. "All this hubbub about little old me? I'm touched."

"Deirdre please sit."

Vivian was sitting in the large leather chair behind an old oak desk motioning to a chair opposite her. Luke and Sophia stood on one end of the room, mirroring Ruby and John. Matt Donner who had obviously been pacing, leaned against the edge of the desk.

"Prefer to stand, thanks."

Vivian gave Matt a pointed look, so he turned to Dee. "Deirdre, we..."

"Ms. Pierson."

"What?"

"We've not been introduced properly, so it's only manners to address me by my surname."

Matt sighed, exasperated. "Young lady, it seems we've got off on the wrong foot tonight."

" _Seems to be a town disease"_ She thought, eliciting a chuckle from Luke and a stern look from Vee.

"Perhaps."

The sheriff relaxed a bit, "Good, so hopefully we can put that all behind us and get to the bottom of this vampire attack. I need you to tell me everything you know about this Forsaken, whatever it is."

"Why?"

"So we can catch it, obviously." John interjected.

"Then what?" Deirdre asked. "You gonna kill him?"

"If that's what it takes to protect Sophia as well as the rest of the Pack, then yes, we will kill it." V confirmed. Matt seemed relieved, as did Luke and Sophia."

"And just how were you planning to kill it, when you don't even know what 'it' is?"

Hearing no responses, Deirdre shook her head. "See this is why I don't work with amateurs. You people wouldn't know a Forsaken if it came up and bit you all on the arse. Which, by the way, might well infect you. Which you wouldn't know, going off half cocked as you plan to. That is exactly why I will be taking care of this problem my own bloody self, like always."

"You will do nothing of the sort!" Vee cried startling everyone in the room. "I won't allow you to go out and get yourself killed."

"I'm the Slayer. It's my job." Deirdre hissed. "And since you brought it up, what you will or will not allow is pretty irrelevant to my life at this point."

"Dee, she's just trying to.."

"Save it Lucas. Now if you kind people will excuse me, I have a job to do." Deirdre spun on her heal and headed toward the door.

Matt blocked her way. The Slayer smirked. "You wanna dance with me, mister?"

"I suggest you listen to your mother, Ms. Pierson." Matt replied. "Or else I'm going to have to detain you for questioning down at the station."

Deirdre laughed menacingly, "You and what army?"

With that, John grabbed her from behind, forcing her head down on the desk, and handcuffing her hands behind her back in one swift motion. Dee countered with a backwards head butt. Seeing Matt come at her, she yanked on the handcuffs, breaking the chain.

The Slayer reeled backwards as the defacto Alpha Male tackled her to the ground. She planted a kick to Matt's midsection that sent him flying into Ruby, who had gone to aid John. Dee executed a kick-flip that put her back on her feet, and ran out of the office, continuing through the front door.

Luke was right behind her followed by Vivian and Sophia. Deirdre was already kick-starting her bike when her brother reached her. Ruby, John and Matt reached the front drive just in time to see her whisper something to him, and speed off into the night.

"What did she say to you?" Sophia asked her shell-shocked boyfriend.

"She said 'Let them catch me if they can.'"


	19. A Very Bad Idea

"I still don't think this is a good idea." Sophia commented from the passenger seat of Luke's car.

"Yeah, you've said that three times already, babe." Luke mumbled keeping his eyes on the street signs. He'd never been to Seacouver before, and he was trying to navigate based on a few jumbled pictures that he'd picked up through the mental connection he shared with his sister. "But, you also said you wanted to come along."

Sophia rolled her eyes. He was right. When Luke had insisted on sneaking out of town to follow Deirdre, she had forced him to bring her along. She'd been afraid he would get into trouble, heading into the city on his own.

Though it was barely half an hour away, Seacouver seemed like a whole different world from Wolf Lake. Instead of expanses of forests, there were steel skyscrapers and brick buildings as far as the eye could see.

"Is he still following us?" Luke asked, shooting a contemptuous glance at the rear view mirror. Sophia turned to look out the rear window. Sure enough, the black SUV was still tailing them three cars back.

"Yep." Sophia nodded. "The man is relentless. Maybe we should just pull over and talk to him?"

Luke growled his "no". He liked the man who was following him well enough. But this was not the time for bonding. "I don't wanna lose her."

* * *

 

The Slayer sped through the streets of Seacouver with practiced ease. Unlike Wolf Lake, she knew this town like the back of her hand. Her dad had spent a lot of time here during the last decade, and she had spent all her summers with him.

Dee had easily slipped into the city. She'd stopped by her hotel room and changed before heading back out for the night. Her mission tonight was recon. Her source was an old friend.

She flipped on the radio on her bike, and found the program she wanted. The DJ was new to the area, but the wicked, silken tones of his voice were still familiar to her.

"Greetings children. You are listening to the NightCrawler. Tonight, I'm sending out special regards to a certain tasty morsel. It seems I've gone an eternity without gazing on your body...or your blades. The macabre beauty of death has been so wasted of late, on fools too blind to appreciate their own mortality. Perhaps we can remedy that tonight. Mayhap, we can all bask in the glow of this moonlit killer; our own precious Angel of Death. My dear, won't you come out to play?"

"You got it old man." Dee whispered through a grin. She stepped on the gas. Arriving at the front door of a dimly lit night club momentarily. The neon sign above the door proclaimed the club "MIDIAN."

She smirked. "He really has no originality."

At the door, there seemed to be no one in sight. She knocked hard on the steel frame. A window opened up at the top of the door, and a bristly bartender peaked through.

"This is a private club miss." he grumbled. "Admittance by invitation only."

She put a sickly-sweet smile on and grabbed one of the rot-iron bars covering the bouncer's window. The iron squealed and bent under her grasp. "I have a personal invitation from the owner."

The vampire blinked and looked at her with wide eyes.

"Name?" he coughed.

"Deirdre Pierson."

He turned away from the door, returning a moment later looking more shell-shocked. "Yes, it seems you are on the list, Miss Pierson."

The door swung open, and the Slayer entered the dark club.

* * *

 

Javier Vachon gazed ruefully at his sullen companion. The boy wasn't even into his mid-thirties, and had already set into a malaise that usually didn't take hold in Gangrel clan, until well after the first century. For his part as the Gangrel Primogen of Seacouver, Vachon had promised Cash to look after the kid, and he intended to make good on that promise. That didn't mean he could stand the sulking any more.

"Tyler."

The blond man sitting across the booth from Vachon said nothing. This prompted the older vampire to throw the olive from his drink at his companion's head. "Tyler."

Tyler raised his head slowly, glaring at Vachon as the vodka covered olive hit him upside the eyebrow.

"What?" he growled.

"You're boring me." Vachon replied. "Again."

"Maybe you should find yourself some other amusements."

Vachon ignored the comment. "You're listening to the Prince's broadcast again."

Tyler nodded, taking another mouthful of scotch. "Passes the time. And it's not like I have much else to do."

Vachon looked about to comment, but a recent entry into the club took his interest. "Cheer up, m'boy. Eternity just got a bit more interesting."

Tyler followed Vachon's line of sight to the door. There she was. The girl who had taken up almost all of his thoughts since he'd last left Wolf Lake. She was wearing skin-tight leather pants, and a green silk top with an open back. Her dark, streaked, wavy hair was arranged into a plaited up-do that showcased emerald chandelier earrings and a bare throat. She looked beautiful and lethal at the same time.

His eyes slid down her body in appreciation. And when they slid back up again, Tyler found himself staring into the green depths of her eyes. Suddenly, she was moving his way. She approached their table with random gazes throughout the room following her.

When she reached the booth, Tyler found himself speechless. A state that was vacant from his recent memory. She turned away from him. "Won't you invite a lady to sit, Vachon?"

"Why? Have you seen one around?" Vachon chuckled.

Tyler turned to see that the dark haired vampire waving a hand at the space next to him. "Of course." he slapped Tyler on the shoulder. "Slide over, whelp. Give the lass some room."

Tyler had never been good at taking orders, but he obeyed without question. She slid beside him into the booth, being careful not to brush against him. Vachon took in the sight of both of them looking rather awkward, and smiled. "Well, I guess I should make introductions. Deirdre Pierson, this is Tyler Creed. He' s been entrusted to my care by the Gangrel Primogen of San Francisco. You're from the Bay Area too aren't you?...Slayer?"

"Occasionally." She shrugged. "And we've already met."

Vachon arched an eyebrow. Tyler shifted into the far corner of the booth to better face Deirdre. The slayer seemed uneasy under his gaze, but addressed him in a friendly tone. "You live in the same town as my brother. I'm in town visiting family."

Tyler sensed an urgency about her, even though she was hiding it well from Vachon. She didn't want anyone to know she'd been involved in his Embrace. So, he played along. He took long sips of his scotch while talking, trying to remain cool. "Oh, I hadn't realized. We met so briefly before, and I guess I forgot my manners. Who's your brother?"

"Lucas Cates."

Tyler's eyes bugged out of his head as he choked on a mouthful of liquor. Vachon laughed, finding the scene comical. "I take it you don't like the boy?"

Deirdre raised an eyebrow, so Tyler shook his head. "It's not that...I... I mean... You're Deirdre Cates?"

She gave him a odd look. "Not anymore."

"Really?" Vachon mused. "Married?"

She glared at both of them. "Adopted."

"And by such interesting people too." Came a voice from the crowd. The voice's owner stared lazily down at the booth's occupants.

The Prince of North Washington had only recently taken up his position. But he was what could arguably be termed an Ancient. Therefore, he'd had few challengers to the position. Tonight he looked like a panther on the tail of his prey, clad in deep blue silk and black leather. His silvery blond hair seemed to glow in the dark, along with his smile.

"Lucien." Deirdre cooed, her whole demeanor changing into a french courtier's. "It's been such a long time."

"Indeed, my dear." Lucien LaCroix beamed. He took the Slayer's hand and helped her out of her seat. "I'm so pleased you've answered my invitation. Won't you join me in private?"

Deirdre nodded coolly and nodded to Tyler and Vachon before following LaCroix to the other side of the bar. "Gentlemen."

Tyler took a moment to register that she was walking away before he started to go after her. An arm barred him from leaving the booth. Vachon gave him a reproachful push back.

"What do you think you're doing, Fledgling?"

"I have to go protect her." Tyler replied without thinking. It was instinctive, and a feeling he had not felt in a very long time.

"Protect her?"

"I made a promise." Tyler mumbled vaguely.

Vachon raised an eyebrow but decided not to ask. "Okay. Promise or no, you don't want to come between LaCroix and what he desires. Believe me, I've seen the carnage that causes. And secondly, she's the Slayer. If there's a soul on earth that can defend against him, it's her. She can take care of herself."

* * *

 

Outside, Luke and Sophia were having a slightly harder time getting into Midian. Luke began to pound on the steel door as the bouncer slammed his little window in their faces for the third time. Sophia tried to calm him.

"Luke, we obviously are not getting in this way. Maybe we should just wait until she comes out." She said as she rubbed his shoulder.

Luke softened a bit under his girlfriend's touch. His reprieve didn't last long as the black SUV that had been following them, pulled up in the alley behind Luke's car. He was surprised to see not one, but two figures climb out and walk toward them.

"So she's in there, then?" The dark haired deputy asked.

"Leave her alone." Luke growled.

"John just wants to help, Luke." Ruby countered. "We don't want Deirdre to get hurt."

"No," he countered. "YOU don't want her to get hurt. HE thinks she's a psycho. Probably just wants to bring her back so the sheriff can lock her up."

"The thought had crossed my mind." Kanin admitted. At his fiancee's hard look he added, "But your Mom wants us to try her bring back just to talk. And I don't really relish the idea of being thrown around like a rag doll again."

Luke contemplated John for a moment. The older man had only recently Flipped, after having been raised human, and having lived in the human world all his life. They might be family soon, but Luke still mistrusted the cop in Kanin. He was what Dee called a boyscout, seeing things only in black and white. Deirdre was all shades of gray. And Ruby had so much love for John that Luke felt unsure of her loyalties as well. So he turned to the only person he could trust.

"What do you think Sophia?"

Sophia started at the question. She took a minute to think. She didn't know anything about Deirdre, other than the fact that she'd saved Luke's life and her own. Luke seemed to trust her so blindly... but Sophia acknowledged that he likely had a basis for that trust. She looked at Ruby: her sister White Wolf and Deirdre's big sister. She found a sense of peace in Ruby's gray gaze.

"I say we go in. All of us."

* * *

 

Five minutes later, the four of them found their way into the club. John had finagled Ruby and himself through the front door, by flashing his badge and insisting there was a minor child drinking on the premises. Luke and Sophia had climbed in the back way through a jarred window in the lady's room.

They all met up around the dance floor, and took a table to look less conspicuous. After a few minutes of searching the bar visually for Deirdre, Sophia nodded toward a dark corner of the club. _Over there._

John turned toward her line of sight. The telepathic messages were still new to him, and threw him for a bit of a loop. He started to rise from his seat, but Ruby pushed him back down, shaking her head.

_Just listen. Try to concentrate on her voice alone. She's well within your new hearing range._

He nodded, accepting that his fiancée still had to tutor him in some things. He did as she said. He looked at Deirdre's moving mouth, and tried to match a voice in the cacophony of the club to it. Once that was accomplished, he closed his eyes and picked out the male voice that joined hers. He sensed the others were doing the same thing.

"...in your territory LaCroix. If it were me, I'd want something done about it."

LaCroix replied lazily. "Why should I be bothered? He hasn't impeded me in the least. He doesn't trespass on my hunting ground or on any of my people."

"He's amassing an army of vamps of various species under your nose. Surely, a great general like yourself, could see that as a problem." Dee countered, sounding perturbed.

"Touché, my dear. But the truth is, the creature has no designs on my new empire. Does he?" his smile was audible. "No, I believe it's your own territory you're worried about. Perhaps you fear for your own pretty neck...Or is it someone else's that he desires?"

Deirdre let out a sigh of frustration. "All I want is a name and a location, LaCroix. You don't have to be involved past that."

"Ah yes, well even that small bit of involvement could prove costly."

The man sounded like a spider reeling in a juicy fly. There was a long pause, and Deirdre seemed to contemplate her next move. "Name your price, old man."

John never got to hear LaCroix's response. His eyes shot open when he heard a commotion raised at the other end of the table. Apparently, one of the female bar patrons had wedged her way in between Luke and Sophia, and was drunkenly attempting to sit in the boy's lap. Luke tried to stop her, but it took a push from Sophia to topple her off. The angry blonde gave an enraged hiss. She bared a set of razor sharp fangs. Ruby had to grab Sophia to stop her from lunging at the vampiress. The younger girl's eyes shined gold as she let out a possessive snarl.

John shot out a hand to restrain the blond, when he heard a loud authoritative voice ring out behind him. "What exactly is going on here?"

All eyes turned to see the silver haired man that Deirdre had been conversing with, standing menacingly over the scene. The blond vampiress seemed to cower before him. "Nnnothing, sir."

"Nothing Victoria?" LaCroix sneered. "Then, maybe your new friends can explain the disturbance of the night."

Ruby started before John could. "She seems to have had too much to drink. She was making unwanted advances toward my brother, and his girlfriend took exception."

"Did she?" It was readily apparent that their conversation was drawing the attention of the whole club. LaCroix seemed to both revel in and ignore the attention at the same time.

"LaCroix." Deirdre placed a hand gently on his arm, interrupting. She purposefully moved into his line of sight. "We still have business to discuss. You needn't bother with these people. The bouncer can deal with them."

Out of the corner of his eye, John could see a dark haired man in a leather jacket, and Tyler Creed of all people, approaching LaCroix from the rear. He seemed to sense their presence. A look of understanding past over his features and a sinister smile spread over his lips. He turned to Deirdre. "Your territoriality is showing, my dear."

He turned back to the table at large. "Victoria, you will leave for the night. As for the rest of you, I only tolerate one mongrel under my roof. Citizens of Wolf Lake are not welcome here except by my express permission. You will leave or suffer the consequences."

John bristled. "Consequences?"

"LaCroix!" Deirdre grunted, getting the older man's attention. She grabbed him. She bit into her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. Then, she kissed LaCroix passionately on the mouth. While everyone was distracted by the display, Luke turned to the others.

" _We have to go now."_ he thought intensely.

" _Luke, we can't just..._ "

" _Just trust me."_ he mentally interrupted Sophia. " _Dee will explain outside."_

John nodded and they all made their way back out the front door as quickly as possible. A few minutes later, Deirdre met them out in the alley, out of earshot of the club patrons. She looked furious.

"Do you guys know how incredibly dangerous that was, what you just did?" She seethed, blood still dripping from her lip.

"What we did?" Ruby gaped. "What about what you did?"

"I wasn't in any danger until you showed up!"

"That guy looked like he could have eaten any of us alive, Dee." Luke replied

"You all, maybe." Deirdre nodded. "But LaCroix is little threat to me."

"Why?" Sophia scoffed. "Because you're the Slayer?"

"No, LaCroix isn't afraid of me." Dee admitted. "He's old enough he could snap any Slayer in two."

"Old enough?" Sophia asked.

Deirdre grumbled shaking her head at the heavens in a "why me?" gesture. "Okay, Lesson One on vampires: There are lots of different kinds. Lots of different species with all different origins, powers, and weaknesses. One of the few constants is that in almost every case, age equals power."

"And LaCroix is old?" Ruby asked, prompting her sister.

" _LaCroix remembers what it looked like when Vesuvius erupted._ " Deirdre replied mentally.

The others looked shocked but John probed further. "So if he's that much of a bad ass, what stops him from hurting you?"

"Let's just say that he and Doc are old army buddies."

"Doc?" Sophia asked.

"Her dad." Luke supplied.

Dee nodded. "Doc's not a person you want to get angry at you. And LaCroix knows that harming or killing me would make him very angry. You guys, however, are another story...

She trailed off as a man approached them, coming out of the club. Ruby growled at the sight of him.

"Tyler?"

John instinctively put himself between his fiancée, and her soon-to-be-ex-husband. "What do you want Creed?"

Tyler ignored Kanin in favor of Deirdre. "The Prince asked me to deliver a message."

Deirdre nodded gratefully. "Yes?"

"DuGare. Quai de treize."

"Merci." Deirdre replied. An energy passed between them that was not lost on the other wolves. Unlike the loathing and indifference they all regarded Creed with, there was mutual respect between Dee and Tyler. And maybe even something more.

Having delivered his message, Tyler turned and walked away down the alley, eventually melting into the shadows. It occurred to Deirdre that he was beginning to get good at that. And he looked really good doing it. She shook off the feeling and turned back to the others.

"Look, will it get you guys off my back, if I promise to meet with Vivian and the sheriff in the morning?"

A look of agreement passed between the four of them, and John replied. "Nine AM sharp?"

"Make in noon." Dee said, shaking her head. "I keep late hours."

"Ten thirty." John countered. "Split the difference and you give us full disclosure."

Dee's shoulders sagged. "Deal, but I don't see any of you for the rest of the night. Stay home in your nice soft beds."

"Agreed."

John headed back to his SUV followed by a reluctant Ruby. After they took off, Luke made a point of hugging his sister before getting into his own car. Sophia was halfway back to the car when she turned back.

"What's at dock thirteen?" Sophia asked.

Deirdre's eyes flashed. "I'll worry about that, princess. You just worry about keeping yourself, and my brother, out of trouble til I get back."

With that, Deirdre walked over to her motorcycle, started the engine, and sped away. Sophia got back into Luke's car.

"Dock thirteen?" He asked.

"You never pay attention in French class, do you?" Sophia laughed. As he rolled out of the alley, the events of the night hit her and she cast a wary glance back at the club. She growled at him. "I told you this was a bad idea."


	20. Laughter, Pain, and a Breakfast Burrito

As she slammed the door to the decrepit warehouse storage room, it occurred to Deirdre that she should have stayed firm on her noon appointment. The way things were going, she might not get back to Wolf Lake at all, let alone by ten thirty.

The door to the store room began to rattle. Dee grabbed a tell metal shelving rack nearby, and toppled it in front of the door. One good thing about being a werewolf and a Slayer, super strength. She felt around for a light switch, with no luck. Then she realized she could see fine, due to the cracks under the door. Enhanced night vision was apparently a second benefit. She smiled at the thought.

Levity always helps when you're trapped, she thought. Dee hadn't anticipated the sheer size of the vampire nest she'd taken on at Dock Thirteen. Her reconnaissance efforts from the outside had shown about a dozen vampires of varying species occupying the abandoned warehouse. But, by the time she'd worked her way through half of these, another fifteen or so had arrived. Apparently, there was some kind of vamp summit going on at DuGare's behest. And she'd crashed the party way too early.

When she'd left her hotel room, having changed clothes after Midian, Deirdre had gone in thinking to make quick work of Dugare and his minions. That had all gone down the tubes in the space of an hour. She'd gone and gotten her ass handed to her by an angry vamp mob.

"Smooth move, Slayer." she chided herself.

Now, she was trapped in the storage room with limited exits. She was also nursing an injured leg and multiple open wounds. All of this, her Slayer powers could heal in a few days, provided she stay alive that long.

"Bollocks." she cried, kicking a nearby crate with her good leg, and toppling over in the attempt. "Shit. Cazzo. Merde. Pelotas. Vaffanculo hurensohns!"

She lay in a heap for a moment, having temporarily run out of energy and curses. She rummaged in her pocket for her cigarette lighter. A flick of the flint illuminated the room. Dee was relieved to see a few emergency candles had rolled onto the floor when she'd toppled the shelf. She lit one and decided to take stock of her situation.

She decided quickly that her leg must be broken, but not severely so. Most of her wounds were superficial. The exception was a long gash down her right arm where a vamp had thrown her through a window. The wound bisected an old scar she'd had since childhood, whose origin she couldn't remember.

All she knew was that the mottled tissue always gave her a sense of security when she touched it. A weird reaction regarding a scar, but it worked for her. Dee had even had a tattoo inked around it to highlight the area. It seemed a shame that it was now ruined by the new wound. The thought pissed her off all over again. The wolf in her growled.

She tore off a piece of her shirt and tied it around the wound, stemming the flow of blood. Then, the Slayer held the candle aloft, looking for other exits. There was an air vent along the ceiling side of one wall. If she could get to it, she could shimmy her way into the building's duct-work and crawl to the outside. Her other choice was to wait until the commotion died down, kick down the door, and charge her way out.

Unfortunately, as soon as she had that thought, smoke began to pour in under the door, followed by the beginnings of flames. The vamps were trying to smoke her out.

"Great!" she mumbled. She found an old water jug nearby and cracked it open with the knife she kept in her boot. Then, she stripped off her shirt. Wetting the fabric, she wrapped the shirt around her face to prevent smoke inhalation. "Now I get to crawl through the vents topless."

She managed to clumsily climb up to the vent while the commotion behind the door grew louder. Only her legs were dangling out when the door suddenly caved in. Dee tried to pull herself further in, but she knocked over the candle, which promptly went out. Pain shot through her leg as someone grabbed her ankles and pulled her back out of the vent onto the floor. The wind went out of her and she felt her feet begin to heat up.

Then room filled with smoke and Dee's burning eyes couldn't see anything. She felt fangs sink into the calf of her good leg, and she kicked out. She heard screams in the distance, and the sounds of a fight. A hand grabbed her wrist and she punched and kicked in the direction of it's owner. "Fuck off gore-sack!"

A second later, something hit her in the head, and everything went still and dark.

* * *

 

Deirdre was weightless, and moving. It took her a second to realize that she was being carried. And the person who was carrying her was running. Trees sped by them as if they too were running, but in the opposite direction.

She looked down, and was startled to see that her legs were much shorter than usual. She realized that she was wearing the clothes of a child. And stranger still, her body was that of a child. She could hear the voices of men in the distance, and she somehow knew that they were chasing her.

The person carrying her abruptly set her down. "Run!" said the voice. "Run, and don't let anything stop you. And don't look back!"

She did as she was told. She ran as fast as her tiny child's legs would carry her. She heard screams behind her, and she ran faster. She weaved through the trees, putting as much distance behind her as possible. Her heart pounded in her chest.

Suddenly, the forest floor gave way to hard cold pavement. She ran into the road. A loud noise startled her. She heard a long tone like a fog horn, and red light flooded her eyes. In that second, she saw a wolf leap into view, its fur shone bright red in the light. The wolf bit into her shoulder, dragging her to the ground.

As she fell, she heard a horrible crash. Glass shattered and metal crunched. She could hear a woman's screams in the background. She fell to her knees.

Now her legs were big again, her own eighteen year old legs. She was kneeling next to a cliff and as she got to her feet, she could see over the cliff side. Below she could see thousands of wolves and shapeshifters of every size and shape charging the cliff. She realized that they were trying to get to her and she started screaming. Screaming the same thing over and over. "Red Wolf!"

* * *

 

Deirdre was still screaming as she was jarred awake. The figure of a man was leaning over her, shaking her into consciousness. As she got a hold of herself, she realized that he was cradling her in his arms, and repeating. "You're okay." over and over.

She calmed down a bit and Tyler Creed eased her back on the bed she was laying atop. He got up to retrieve a bowl of water from the bathroom adjoining the small bedroom. He was dressed in a blood stained white t-shirt and charred jeans. He sported a black eye. And Dee wondered absently whether or not she'd given it to him.

"Wh...? Wh..?" was all she could manage. Her throat felt like ground beef.

He sat back down on the bed next to her. He dredged a clean cloth through the hot water in the bowl, and replaced the blood soaked one on her arm with it. "You're in Seacouver, and you're safe."

A closer look revealed that she was indeed, back in her own hotel room at the Seacouver Arms. Her voice was returning, but not her brain power. "How?"

"I followed you to the warehouse." Tyler replied, as if that explained everything.

Deirdre looked down at herself. She was dismayed to see that her torso was covered only with a bedsheet, exposing her arms and stomach. Both of her jeans legs had been sliced up the front, and she was missing both boots. "Why am I next to naked?"

Tyler looked sheepish. He scratched his head and smiled nervously. "Well, your shoes caught fire. I had to cut up your pants to examine your legs. And you were topless when I found you in the storage closet."

Deirdre nodded, mulling over his explanation. She lifted the waist band of her jeans and looked down the front of them. "Well, it could be worse. At least I'm still wearing knickers."

Tyler burst out laughing at that. He winced a little, and rubbed his eye. A sly smile spread over her mouth. "You think that's funny do you?"

"I just never imagined that kind of reaction to narrowly surviving being burned to death and eaten by two dozen vampires."

"They wouldn't have eaten me. Cooking ruins the blood."

He shook his head. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Go from blind terror to yucking it up."

Deirdre shrugged, regretting it immediately. "Not much choice. Once you lose your sense of humor, there's not a lot of point to living. Then, you might as well let them eat you."

He gave her a strange look. But he nodded in agreement. "Is that why you went in there alone?"

Deirdre scoffed. "You gonna lecture me Tyler?"

"Just curious."

"I work alone usually." she replied nonchalantly, as he dabbed at her various wounds with antiseptic. "It's the nature of the job. One girl in all the world...yadda, yadda, yadda. I only really call in reinforcements for the big jobs."

"Lone wolf." Tyler muttered. "It's not the best idea. Besides, I'd say that was a bigger job than you thought. Did you find DuGare?"

She shook her head. "Wasn't there. But I got some intel. Thanks to you, I got out alive...Sorry about your eye, by the by..."

He waved a hand dismissively. "Not the worst thing a woman's done to me."

Deirdre nodded, not missing a beat. "Anyway, now I know to gather a posse. Next time the bastard's going down."

Tyler handed her a clean New York Dolls t-shirt, and a set of sweat pants. "Sounds like he pissed you off."

"He came after my brother." Dee growled. Somehow, Tyler sensed that this was not her only reason for going after DuGare.

Abruptly, she threw off the sheet, stripping as best she could to put on the new clothes. Tyler raised an eyebrow at the display and turned his back to her, doing his best not to leer. "Sure not shy, are you?"

"A good portion of Paris has seen me naked already." Dee frowned at her own comment, a dark expression marring her features. Immediately, she switched to a wry grin. "Besides, why should I be shy in front of the man that saved my life?"

"Just returning the favor." He deflected. He too had his secrets. "You already have a posse, you know. That's what the Pack is for. We protect each other."

Dee snorted cynically. "Thanks, but I'll stick with my tried and true people. You can turn around now. Do you know what time it is? I have to meet with Donner and Vivian in the morning."

"It's nearly three." He said. He grabbed a blanket for himself out of the linen closet. "Get some sleep. I'll be on the couch if that's cool. Just want to be sure that knock on the head didn't leave you with a brain bleed or something. I'll head out in the morning."

"Tyler." she said. "It's not true you know."

"What's not true?"

"I didn't save your life." She replied, guilt showing in her eyes. "I tried, but I just didn't hack it that night. I'm... I'm sorry...for what happened to you. What Hunter did...What I let happen."

Tyler stared at her a moment, not knowing what to say. He wanted to tell her so many things, but his charm and wit seemed to be failing him lately. "Don't sweat it, Slayer. At least I got a cool jacket out of the deal."

Deirdre was about to ask what he meant, but Tyler walked into the living room of the suite, closing the door behind him. Deciding not to push her luck, Deirdre climbed gingerly back into bed and shut the light off. Somehow knowing that Tyler, a virtual stranger to her, was in the next room allowed Dee to sleep more soundly than she had in a long time.

* * *

 

The next morning Tyler was gone. True to his word. Deirdre woke up to the sound of the phone ringing, only to hear a cabby on the other end of the line. Apparently, he was waiting out front for her.

"Ten minutes." she grumbled, looking at the clock. It read 9:56 AM. "What?...Yes I tip well!"

Hanging up, Dee made her way to the shower. She was pleased to find that after all the dried blood washed off, all her wounds had closed up, and most were healed completely. She could now bear weight on her leg, albeit carefully. Thank god for quick metabolism.

The Slayer brushed her wet curls into a ponytail. She opted for a long sleeved Runaways tee, and some cargo pants. Her sneakers would have to do until she could get some more custom boots. Slapping on some makeup over her uncovered bruises, she deemed herself presentable. As Dee grabbed her room key off the parlor table, she found a note in jagged handwriting:

CALLED YOU A CAB. LEFT YOUR BIKE AT THE DOCK LAST NIGHT. YOU SHOULDN'T RIDE TODAY ANYWAY. YOU'LL SCARE THE OTHER DRIVERS.

"Great," Dee chuckled to herself, "A new guardian angel. Hopefully he's not too much of a boy scout."

Deirdre walked into the Cates house at 10:28 AM exactly. Vivian showed her daughter into her office directly. If she noticed Dee's limp, she didn't comment on it. Deirdre sat down in the same chair she had the previous night. Matt Donner was sitting in another leather chair next to Deirdre's. He looked very tense.

"Would you like something to eat, before we get started?"

Vivian waved a hand over the silver tray laid out on her desk. There was an assortment of danish, fresh fruit, and other morning finger foods. Apparently V had anticipated that this was breakfast time for Deirdre.

The slayer grabbed a breakfast burrito. She knew she needed the protein if she intended to keep healing. "Thanks," She mumbled around bites. A thought occurred to her. "Where's Lucas?"

"School." Vivian supplied. She neglected to tell Deirdre that it had taken both hers and Sophia's combined influence to get her son out the door.

"Ruby and Kanin?"

"Kanin is working on a case." the sheriff supplied. "And Ruby is in the process of moving."

He sighed, becoming impatient. "John told us that you're more inclined to cooperate today."

"I gave my word." Dee nodded. "What do you want to know?"

"Let's start with who The Forsaken is." Vivian replied.

Dee shifted her legs for better circulation, settling in. "Forsaken refers to a particular species of vampire. Originated back in the Crusades with a Faustian pact with the Devil."

"Excuse me." She polished off her breakfast and continued on with the lesson. "Originally, there were eight of them. Over the years, they got whittled down. The last one got popped by some friends of mine. Now there are only three left. That's not to say they don't have plenty of minions. See, the Forsaken are both demonic and infectious. Their bites transmit a telegenetic virus, that turns humans into Feeders. Not as strong, but once they've tasted blood, they're just as deadly."

"What does all this have to do with Sophia?" Donner interjected.

"I was getting to that." Dee griped. "Apparently, this particular Forsaken has grown tired of his own weaknesses. Different vamps can be hurt in different ways. But there are some constants. Decapitation will kill almost anything. Fire works across the board. Sunlight is the great equalizer when it comes to vamps. From what I found out, DuGare has a plan to perform a ritual that will cure him of the whole allergy to sunlight thing. These kinds of demonic rites always have some weird component. Bottom line: DuGare needs the blood of a female White Wolf to accomplish his goal."

The sheriff nodded. He was deeply disturbed that a vampire was out for his daughter's blood. But the cop in him was pleased to be making headway. "But why Sophia? Why not Ruby? She's a White Wolf as well."

"Dunno." Dee replied. She looked like she wanted to continue speaking but thought better of it.

Vivian spoke up. "Ruby's been in lock-down for months. First under Willard's authority. Then, under Tyler's roof by my orders. If DuGare only discovered our clan recently, Sophia may be the only one he knows about."

"That makes sense." Donner agreed.

There was an awkward silence and Deirdre became increasingly uncomfortable. "Anyway...I wouldn't worry about it too much. I just need to call in some of my people to help me cull the lot of minions. Then once I take DuGare out, Sophia and Lucas will be safe. All will be right with the world, and I'll be on my way and out of your hair."

As Deirdre moved to get up, Donner clapped a hand on her injured shoulder in an attempt to stop her. She grabbed hold of his wrist, exerting just enough pressure to hurt. He released her and she growled. "No man touches me without my permission."

Matt shot a look at Vivian who shook her head at him. "Fair enough. But you're not leaving just yet."

"And it worked soooo well the last time you tried to stop me."

Seeing she needed to rein in the situation, Vivian stood. "Please Deirdre, there are still a few things we need to discuss."

Dee sat back down, conceding the point. "Such as?"

"Such as the fact that this is our fight." Donner interjected.

"Matt please." Vivian interrupted. Donner waved a hand, showing that he would let her explain. V turned back to Deirdre. "We are a very closed society here Deirdre. You didn't grow up here but..."

"And that would be whose fault?" Dee quipped under her breath.

A hurt look showed in Vivian's face but she continued. "The Pack protects it's own. If you bring in outsiders to deal with this threat, it increases our risk of exposure. I love both Luke and Sophia, but as Alpha, I have to think of all the innocent young adults and children in this town, both Wolfen and human."

"Your people have no idea how to deal with this kind of a threat." Deirdre argued. "Hell, half of your population has never left the town limits."

"Well, I'm hoping that's where you come in." Vivian smiled.

"Oh?"

"With your knowledge and ability, and our numbers, I hope to neutralize the threat of DuGare. And protect Sophia in the process."

Dee shook her head. "That's assuming I play by your rules."

"And you will." Donner replied. "Or you can spend time in lock-up until we get rid of DuGare ourselves."

Dee smiled. "See you're making a lot of assumptions there. First, that your people are capable of fighting off, not only the Forsaken, but also his minions. Who happen to be comprised of various vampire species with all kinds of abilities and weaknesses. And finally, you assume that you have any earthly idea what I'm capable of."

"Yeah, we get it." Donner grumbled. "You're a badass. But just try me sweetheart. This is my daughter's life we're talking about."

Vivian pinched the bridge of her nose while they bickered. She'd known that there would be head-butting between her daughter and the sheriff, but this was ridiculous. "Okay, hold it!"

The two stopped and turned at the sound of Vivian slamming her hands onto the desk. "This is getting us nowhere! Matthew?"

"Yes, V?"

"With all due respect, shut the hell up!" Vivian turned to smirking daughter. "And you!"

"Yes?"

"Daughter or not, this is my town. While you are in it you play by my rules. I will not have this turn into a free-for-all with innocent bystanders, just to soothe your ego. Do I make myself clear?!"

Deirdre thought it over for a moment. "Fine."

"Good." Vivian breathed. "Now, what exactly is your interest in eliminating DuGare? Besides the obvious fact of you being the Slayer."

"He came after Luke." Dee seethed. "And I don't like people who fuck with my family."

"Okay then, we can all agree that keeping Sophia and Lucas safe is our central priority then. Yes?"

Both the Slayer and the sheriff nodded. Vivian sighed in relief. They were making headway. "Then for argument's sake, let us say that working together would be the best way to attain that goal. So, I suggest that you, Deirdre, start compiling all your relevant data on DuGare and his minions. If you can provide that to Matt's sheriff's department, I can arrange for you to have 24 hour access to Luke and Sophia. That way, we can track down DuGare..."

"And I can play bodyguard for Luke and his girlfriend." Dee finished. She nodded, thinking it over. "Say I agree to this. I play tag-along and keep a low profile. What's your back-up plan if he screws up?"

Matt growled at the implication. Vivian rolled her eyes. At least he was holding in his rage. "I have every confidence in Sheriff Donner and his team. However..."

"However..." Deirdre prompted.

"Should the time come that we do need the help of your associates to eliminate DuGare, I will let you know."

Dee mulled it over for a few moments. Begrudgingly she sighed. "Agreed."

Vivian turned to Matt, raising an impeccably sculpted eyebrow. Donner rolled his eyes, knowing he had very little choice. "Agreed. But I reserve the right to keep my own people on hand to watch Sophia."

"Wonderful." V breathed. "It's settled. Now then Deirdre, I think it would be best if you moved into Ruby and Amanda's old room upstairs. Sophia can have the second bed. And Matt, I can have the guest room down the hall spruced up and ready for you by the end of your shift tonight."

"Excuse me?" Matt cried.

"Hold up," Dee interjected. "I never said I was moving in here!"

Vivian smiled saccharin. "Well I assumed that protecting Luke and Sophia would be a 24/7 concern. The only way I see that happening is if Sophia were to move in here for the time being. Obviously it would be harder to move Luke into the Donners'. And I don't think that you'd approve, Matthew, of having the both of them in the same room. There is plenty of room here. And, this way we can all be watching over them. Three sets of eyes are always better than one. Matt's room will be between the girls' and Luke's, to prevent any impropriety. Deirdre, you'll be across the hall from your brother. And I can arrange for you to attend classes with the two of them while we adults are working. That way it's a win win for everyone."

Matt scowled for a few minutes but he conceded her point. _Well played, V._

Deirdre looked about to erupt. She'd had no intention of getting immersed this far into Wolf Lake. She sputtered for several moments, looking like a fish out of water. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, centering herself. When she finally spoke, her eyes were pressed shut, as if looking at either of them would enrage her. "Fine. But I bring whatever weapons and equipment I want with me, no questions asked. My business, outside of Wolf Lake is my own, no questions asked. And this is a temporary arrangement. As soon as I'm satisfied that Luke is safe, I walk. No Questions Asked. Those are my conditions. Take them or leave them."

Vivian and Donner agreed in unison. Deirdre lifted herself out of the chair, feeling suddenly stiff, and very old. "Alright, I've gotta go get my things. What time should I be back?"

"School let's out at 4:30." Vivian supplied. "I'd like to get you settled in by 3pm, to minimize confusion when Lucas and Sophia come back."

"Fine. 3 it is. I have to put my affairs in order back in Seacouver. If I see anyone following me, especially any Wolfen, I won't be happy." Dee warned.

"Understood." Vivian nodded, leading the Slayer back to the door. "We will see you later today."

As she closed the door behind her daughter, Vivian breathed a sigh of relief. She'd accomplished her goal. Her eyes caught the laughing gaze of Matt Donner. "What?"

"Remind me to watch your acceptance speech for that Oscar."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She replied, moving past him into the study, where she poured two glasses of single malt scotch.

Accepting the drink she held out to him, Matt laughed. "Tell me that performance had nothing to do with getting her to move back in."

"I told you Matt..."

"Yeah, yeah. It's a win win for all concerned." He chuckled. "Come on, V, level with me."

Vivian got a far off look in her eyes. Matthew saw emotions played out there that he knew had been buried for many many years. He hadn't seen her look so tired since her husband Willard's funeral. Then she spoke. "What would you do, Matt? Until a few days ago, I hadn't seen my baby girl in fourteen years. Fourteen years! I couldn't even send her a card on her birthday. Or else those monsters might...She probably didn't even know that I'm her mother."

"I remember how hard it was for you to give her up." He said.

She'd gone through a year long depression after her daughter had been taken away. He could recall her sitting on her porch for days on end, after the Cates's had released false reports of Deirdre's kidnapping and death. Willard had called Matthew in more than once to get Vivian to go inside and eat something, or at the very least to wrap a shawl around herself when winter hit. Eventually, the two men had been able to convince Vivian that Lucas needed her enough to pull her out of it. Day by day, she seemed to recover, mostly from interacting with her son, as well as her two step daughters.

"Hard?" Vivian croaked, smearing a tear away. "What's hard, Matt? Giving up your daughter? Or convincing everyone you know that she's dead, when you know damn well she's not? How about convincing your son, her twin brother, that she never existed in the first place? Because you know that it would be easier for him."

He shook his head. "I can't imagine. If I had to give Sophia up...Well, I don't know what I'd do."

Vivian downed the rest of her scotch and took a deep breath, shaking off her sadness. "Well, at least now I have a second chance. I am going to make her see that she belongs here, with us...with me."

"She's had a hard life." Matt commented. "She's a tough cookie, V. But then again, she gets that from you."

Vivian smiled genuinely for the first time that day. "Will you be able to live with this?"

"Let me see. A house full of beautiful women, and only your pup of a son to challenge me? I think I can handle it." Matt chuckled.

"I meant the arrangement regarding Sophia? DuGare might prove to be a real problem."

His eyes flared gold at the mention of the vampire. "No one is going to hurt Sophia. If he comes near her, I'll gut him myself. As for Deirdre watching her, do you think she's trustworthy?"

"She's a Slayer." Vivian answered. "She has the ability I'm sure. Her loyalty to Luke will most likely translate to Sophia. Either way, my goal is that we make it irrelevant."

"Work around her?"

Vivian nodded sternly. "For the sake of all our children."


	21. Domestic Activities

After Matt left, Vivian's mood seemed to improve exponentially. 

As the possibility of being able to reconnect with her daughter became more and more real to her, Vee found herself in a flurry of joyful productivity. Despite the danger Sophia was in, and the consequences of that danger for the Pack and her son, things seemed to be looking up. She began cleaning and arranging the house in preparation for the arrival of her family and house-guests. She even caught herself humming an off key rendition of "Tainted Love" while tidying the girls' room.

"Impressive." came a voice behind her.

Vivian shouted, jumping into the air in shock. She'd worked long and hard over the course of her life to develop a sense of poise and alertness. It had been a long time since anyone had caught her that off-guard. She spun to face the intruder.

"Tyler," she breathed, "You startled me."

He glared at her and grinned at the same time. "So sorry. I thought you'd have heard me at the door."

It took Vivian a minute to realize that the emotion Tyler was exhibiting was barely concealed rage. He hid it well, but she knew him better than most. She decided to play things cool. "I wasn't expecting you today. I'm getting ready for company. What is it you need?"

"An explanation, for starters."

"About what?"

"You lied to me."

Vivian pinched the bridge of her nose. She threw clean linens on Deirdre's mattress and began making the bed. This day had looked so promising too. "Could you be more specific, Tyler? I don't have time to play twenty questions."

"You told me she was dead." he growled.

Again, Vee was surprised. She turned to see Tyler's eyes glowing, not the typical gold, but an eerie milky green. She was reminded that Tyler had vampire blood in him, and for the first time in recent memory, she felt a bit afraid of him.

"I take it you mean Deirdre." She replied tossing a comforter over the bed. She steadied herself. "Willard and I decided it was best to tell everyone she'd past away. It was for her own protection. Frankly, I'm surprised you even remember. Why should you care anyway? It was a long time ago."

Tyler grabbed her arm as she threw a pillow onto the bed. He spun her around to face him. "I had the right to know that she was alive!"

Vivian wrenched the arm away and let out a dominant growl that stated clearly "I am Alpha. Remember your place." He backed away, and she calmed herself. Then a light bulb went on in her head. "Are you talking about the mark? Tyler, you were fifteen years old, and she was four. And you said yourself that it was an accident. Surely, you don't think..."

"I'm not talking about mating rights, Vee." He cut her off. "I'm talking about the fact that I made a promise to protect that girl for life. And you made a liar outta me."

Vivian gave a sardonic laugh. "So that's what this is about? Your sense of nobility is threatened? Let me remind you Tyler, that I've known you from a pup. And it has been a very long time, since you could be termed noble."

"Yeah." He agreed. "About fourteen years."

She straightened up, looking chastised. "Yes. You did perform admirably at the task Willard set for you back then. Be that as it may, Deirdre is home now. And her family can protect her better than you can."

"You sure about that?" Tyler said, his face softening. Worry lines became visible around his eyes. He ran a nervous hand through his abnormally flat hair.

For the first time in years, Vivian saw genuine emotion reflected in his face. He was troubled. Vivian could see he clearly cared for Deirdre. "Vee, all bullshit aside, the girl has major issues. Maybe you can protect her from outside dangers. But she's got a pretty big chip on her shoulders. So the question is: Can you protect her from herself?"

Vivian was moved by his sincerity "Duly noted. But I am still her mother. And the responsibility falls to me. I'm grateful for your help. You can consider your promise kept."

Tyler shook his head. "No dice, Vee. I didn't make the promise to you. So, I'll keep my distance, if that's what you want. But until I get axed by the source, I'll be around."

Vivian gave a resigned sigh. She turned to throw another pillow on the bed. "Fine. I'll just have to make sure your presence is unnecessary."

When she turned back around, Tyler was gone.

* * *

 

Later that night, Vivian was working in the kitchen. Sophia was helping her cook a side of veal, while Vivian herself prepared the asparagus and couscous for sides. She planned to wait for Matthew to get back from work before she explained the sleeping arrangements to Luke and Sophia.

"Do you want it trussed vertically or horizontally, Mrs. Cates?"

Vee looked over at the meat. "The way you have it is fine, Sophia. And please, call me Vivian."

The younger woman smiled nervously. It was the first time she'd ever spent more than a few minutes alone with her boyfriend's mother. Sophia had been somewhat shocked when her father had called to say they were dining with the Cates'. She'd been even more surprised when Vivian had shooed Lucas upstairs after returning from school.

Vivian had insisted that she wanted some time to bond with Sophia. Although, for some unknown reason, Vivian kept looking nervously between the door and the clock every few minutes. Sophia decided to distract her.

"So, are you and my dad, like, dating now?"

Vivian chuckled. "Why do you ask?"

Sophia shrugged. "I see the way you two look at each other. And now, with the 'girl time'? It just seems logical that you guys would be seeing each other."

Vivian raised an eyebrow. "Would that bother you?"

Before Sophia could voice her answer, that it didn't bother her, she heard the noise of the front door opening. Vivian dropped the asparagus in the pot, wiped her hands and hurried into the foyer. Sophia followed her. She was startled to see Deirdre throwing a large duffel bag into the entryway. The contents gave a metallic clang as the bag hit the tiled floor.

Vivian was nonplussed. "It's nearly six o'clock. You're three hours late!"

"Really?" Deirdre quipped through heaving breaths. "Sorry. I must have misplaced my watch. Business took longer to settle than I thought."

Luke came barreling down the stairs. "Dee, what are you doing here?"

"I'm moving in apparently." She replied, much to Vivian's disdain. "Give us a hand, eh? I've got two more bags on the bike."

While the twins went back outside, Sophia turned to Vivian. "She's moving in here? Isn't that a little dangerous?"

Vivian rubbed her temple, feeling a headache coming on. She hadn't told Luke or Sophia anything about the morning's events. She'd wanted to wait for Matthew. Why had she thought this would be easy?

"There are some things that your father and I need to discuss with you kids at dinner. Deirdre moving in is part of it. But I'd like to wait for Matt to get here. He wanted to talk to you personally."

A feeling of dread grew in Sophia's chest. "Is this about DuGare?"

Vivian nodded. "We'll talk about it when your father gets here. He should be back within the hour. Would you help me get the veal in the oven? We all like our meat rare, but a little browning never hurts."

Sophia felt the arm that Vivian wrapped around her shoulder, and the motherly smile helped calm her.

"Sure. We might want to make more asparagus though. And maybe a salad. I think Deirdre may be vegetarian."


	22. Dinner and to Bed

Vivian needed a drink. She had known it would be a tense situation, having Matt, Sophia, Lucas, and Deirdre all under one roof. But this was ridiculous.

Matt had arrived at the Cates house just after 7pm. Vivian and Sophia were just putting the finishing touches on dinner and Luke was setting the table. Deirdre was doing what she called "battening down the hatches." This consisted of her going around pouring a line of salt across all the windowsills and doorways. She would then put a small quartz crystal in the corner of each portal.

Matt started the night by tripping over one of the crystals and breaking it. That had started a fight between him and Dee that had lasted the better part of fifteen minutes. Vivian managed to calm them both down while Sophia tried to keep Luke out of it.

Then had come the explanation portion of the evening.

"Wait," Luke said, contemplating a piece of veal gristle while running what his mother had told him over in his head. "So why does this guy want Sophia's blood, again?"

"Demonic rituals usually have a sacrificial component." Dee replied. "Apparently this one needs the blood of a White Wolf."

"Why me?" Sophia whispered, "What about Ruby?"

She hated to make the suggestion that the other woman should be blood-letted. But in truth, she had never been this scared in her life. Not even the months she had spent on the verge of Flipping for the first time had instilled this kind of fear. A centuries old vampire wanted to gut her for her blood. Sophia decided that she was entitled to some moral ambiguity.

"We don't think he knows about Ruby." Vivian explained.

"No one's going to touch you, Soph." Luke said, hugging her. He looked deep into her eyes, willing her to believe him. "I'll kill anyone that even looks cross-ways at you. That's a promise."

Matt bristled a little when Sophia kissed Luke in response. The wolf inside him growled in possession. Sophia was HIS daughter, HIS blood, HIS to protect. He had to remind himself that Sophia wasn't a little girl anymore. She had all but chosen Luke as her mate. And, much as Matt disliked the kid, he was the only male in the Brat Pack that could come close to protecting a White Female.

"Hopefully, that won't be necessary." Vivian commented. "Deirdre will be shadowing the two of you until further notice, both at school and at home, until we can resolve the situation with DuGare."

"You leave the killing to me, brother." Deirdre said gravely to Luke.

"How are you going to shadow us both at home?" Sophia asked, clearly nervous about the answer.

Vivian and Matt exchanged uncomfortable glances. Matt turned to his daughter. "You and I will be staying here for a while, Sophia."

"You're letting this monster run us out of our home?"

Matt shook his head. "I don't like it either, sweetheart. But I'm going to do whatever I haveta to keep you safe."

"This is crap!" Sophia cried, breaking Luke's hold and running from the room and then the house. Luke and Matt rose from their seats, but Deirdre raised a hand.

"I'll talk to her. I know what she's going through." She didn't wait for an answer.

Sophia had reached the front porch before it had occurred to her that she couldn't leave the grounds. Not with a blood sucking monster out there waiting to pounce. She barely noticed when Dee sidled up to her, until the other girl spoke.

"Want one?"

Sophia turned to see Dee holding a pack of cigarettes in one hand and a flask in the other. Sophia pondered them for a moment before taking the flask, and taking a big swig. She choked as the liquid burned down her throat. Dee lit a cigarette, lipping it while she pounded Sophia on the back. Sophia blanched, "That is vile!"

Dee grinned. "Absolutely. Glenmorangie. Ain't it grand?"

Sophia took another swig, smaller this time, and she concentrated on the burn before handing the flask back to Dee. "Is this how you deal with it?"

"What? The imminent threat of death?"

Sophia nodded.

"You get used to it."

"Really?"

"Not if you're lucky." Dee admitted, taking a sip herself. "Getting pissed or smoking can help when you need it, but it dulls reflexes. And that's what's really dangerous."

"You seem like you're used to it."

Dee shrugged. "I've been trained as a Slayer since I was ten. And we do tend to top out before 25. So, I've made my peace with the idea. That doesn't mean I'm going down without a damn good fight."

"Down in a blaze of glory?"

"Damn straight."

Tears welled up in Sophia's eyes, "But I don't have your courage. I'm scared shitless."

"Yes you do." Dee said without a hint of mirth. "You just don't know it yet. When your back's against the wall, and there's nothing left but you and the Reaper. That's when you'll know."

"And what happens then?"

"You could die."

Sophia glared at her. Dee grinned wolfishly. "On the other hand, you could live."

Dee stamped out her cigarette and gestured toward the door. "C'mon, your da will think I've eaten you."

Sophia moved grudgingly back to the house.

"Besides, you've got worse things to worry about than DuGare." Dee commented as she opened the door.

"Like what?"

"You're rooming with me." Dee said. "And I snore like a Histax demon."

Dee's face was dead-panned, and it only took Sophia a moment to burst out laughing.

* * *

 

Later that night, once the house was secured, both technologically and mystically, both families settled down to bed. Matt made a point of standing in his doorway ominously while Luke kissed Sophia goodnight. Then, it was Luke's turn to observe when his mother gave Matt a brief peck on the cheek in thanks before Matt shut his door. Vivian then went into the girls' room.

The room was done in soft pastels. She'd had to move the twin beds apart from where Ruby had slid them together, following her twin Amanda's death. Vivian remembered the day that Ruby had thrown a fit and changed the room, claiming that she already had one invisible dead sister, so why not another? Ruby had always been a willful child, and often cruel to her stepmother. Vivian shook off the memory.

"Do either of you need anything?"

"No thank you, Mrs. Cates. Everything looks lovely." Sophia offered the best smile she could under the circumstances.

Vivian returned the smile affectionately and then turned to her own daughter expectantly. Dee gave her another gauging glance.

"Loo's down the hall, yeah?"

Vivian nodded.

Dee shrugged then flopped onto her bed, turning her back to Vivian. "That's all I need then. Easy as pie, me."

After a moment, Vivian realized that was all the response she would get. Sophia looked awkward, so she gave her another smile. "Goodnight girls."

After Vivian had closed the door, Sophia rounded on Deirdre. "How can you be so cruel to her?"

Dee sat up to face her roommate. "I don't trust her. Don't know her angle yet."

"She's your mother!" Sophia scoffed. "She doesn't have to have an angle. If my mom were..."

"My mother's dead." Dee cut her off. "The woman that raised me and loved me after Miss Vivian gave me up? Her name was Gloria. She was also Vivian's sister. And I can't help but think it a bit odd that Vivian hasn't mentioned her. Maybe she doesn't know Mum's dead. Maybe she doesn't care. Either way, it's not working in her favor."

Sophia was speechless at this outburst. It was the first time she'd seen actual real emotion from Dee that wasn't masked with a cool façade. The other girl was genuinely angry at Vivian, who had always been kind to Sophia, and Sophia could give no comment to defend Vivian.

"And don't you think it's odd," Dee continued, "to give away one twin and keep the other?"

That was it, Sophia understood. She saw the uncertainty and pain in the other girl's eyes for just a second before it was gone. That was why Dee disliked Vivian, not just because she could not understand her mother's motives in giving her up, but also for making her feel uncertain. Sophia ventured a guess that Deirdre was not often off balance. She was used to being in control, or at least being able to spin a situation to adapt. But she couldn't spin Vee.

"I'm sorry about your mother." Sophia replied. This seemed to jar Dee from her anger.

She sighed. "People die. That's what they do. I miss her. But there are worse things than losing a parent."

Seeing Sophia's brow furrow, Dee changed topics. "So, your mum's not around either?"

Sophia decided to let her intended question drop unasked. "She died in a car accident when I was three. I don't remember much about her. Just that she was kind and that she loved me. Dad never got over losing her. And the Pack never lets him forget."

"Human, was she?"

Sophia nodded, waiting for the jab she was all too used to, at her mother's expense. It didn't come. "That doesn't bother you?"

"Why should it?" Dee asked "Sounds like your family's a lot more normal than mine."

"Is your Dad human?" Sophia asked finally at ease to make conversation. "Your adoptive dad?"

Dee seemed to find this funny, mirth making her eyes glitter. "Mostly. Depends on what you mean by human. Doc's an enigma. He's eternally aloof. You could live to be a thousand and never get a bead on who he really is."

"Where is he?"

"Rome, Istanbul, Texas... Who knows. I last saw him in Paris...."Deirdre's expression darkened again before switching back to distraction. "Do you mind if I open the window?"

Sophia blinked, jarred by the change in subject. She nodded, and Dee opened the window, throwing the shutters wide. Sophia was astonished to see a falcon fly in and alight on the dresser. It chomped its beak making an annoyed clucking sound.

"I know. I know. I've been neglecting you." Deirdre soothed the bird. "I'm sorry. I've been busy."

Seeing Sophia's unease, Dee shook her head. "Sorry. Sophia this is Horus. Horus, Sophia. Horus is my eyes in the sky. He keeps a look out for me."

"Interesting pet." Sophia frowned.

Dee shrugged and turned to the bird. "Oh alright. Take the night off. Go hunt. But tomorrow we're adding Sophia to the band."

Deirdre removed something that looked like a dead mouse out of a plastic bag in her duffel and threw it out the window. Horus flew after it and Dee closed the window after him.

"That was in your bag the entire time?" Sophia cried, her face scrunching up in disgust.

"Best to stay out of there." Deirdre replied. She removed a knife and a fabric wrapped parcel from her duffel and slipped them under her pillow. "Never know what you'll find. A lot of my stuff can be dangerous...and not all in ways you'd expect."

"Duly noted." Sophia replied, getting into bed. "Do you always sleep with a knife under your pillow?

"You can never be too careful." Dee replied. "You want the light on?"

Sophia shook her head, setting the alarm clock her father had packed in the bag he'd brought for her. "First period starts at 8am. Luke said he'd drive. 7am wake-up okay?"

"Whew." Dee whistled. "If I must. G'night Soph."

"G'night Dee." Sophia replied as Deirdre switched off the light.

* * *

 

Outside the room, Vivian was standing in the hallway. Her head cocked toward the girl's door. She had heard every word that had passed between the two, and she bit back tears until she was sure they were asleep. She proceeded noiselessly to her own master bedroom, and sat down on her bed to cry. She did her best not to make a sound, knowing that her house was now full of Wolfen and at least one of them might hear and investigate. The effort of that suppression made her shoulders shake uncontrollably. She clamped a hand over her mouth.

She had known, deep inside, that Gloria was gone. Though she had not spoken to her sister in over a decade, they remained on good terms. Gloria had agreed to take Deirdre for safe keeping, the raise her, love her, and protect her, as Vivian herself wanted so much to do. V knew that her sister would not allow Deirdre to come back to Wolf Lake alone, if she were alive. Still, it hurt to hear the proof, from Deirdre's own words.

And almost as painful was the derision that her daughter had displayed toward her...both in action, and as she spoke to Sophia. Vivian had known she'd have a hard way to go, where Deirdre was concerned. Her actions couldn't make sense to anyone who had not been privy to their cause. And, as Matt had told her, Deirdre was tough, maybe too tough. That didn't stop Vivian from feeling like Deirdre had sent her a blow to the gut with that "angle" comment.

Vivian took a deep breath to steady herself. She went over to the polished wood liquor cabinet that her husband had kept by their bedroom desk and poured herself that drink that she'd been craving. She held up the glass and twirled the liquid in the light of her bedside lamp.

"Well, Will, we've sure got our work cut out for us. Don't we?" She toasted and then turned out the light.


	23. The Red Wolf Cometh

Sophia was running. 

She wasn't sure why, but she was consumed with a sense of urgency and the need to flee. She could not really see where she was going, because the forest around her was overtaken by fog. Still, as she ran, she somehow managed to stay on her feet without tripping over any low set branches.

It was then that she noticed the figure ahead of her. Deirdre was running at the same pace, but no matter how Sophia tried to catch up, the other girl seemed to stay ahead by several strides. She was wearing a dress, surprisingly enough, a long white one that flowed behind her as she ran, and the dark waves of her hair flew behind her. Sophia's lungs burned as she called out to Deirdre. "Wait! Slow down!"

Deirdre turned briefly in mid stride and cried back, ""Run!" her voice was urgent "Run, and don't let anything stop you. And don't look back!"

The temptation to do just that suddenly flared in Sophia. Up until now, it had not occurred to her that, rather than chasing Deirdre, they were both being chased. Before she got a chance though, the forest gave way to a busy city street. Instead of trees, she was now dodging throngs of people, still trying to keep up with Dee. It wasn't until the Slayer stopped abruptly at a large iron gate that Sophia finally stumbled to a stop beside her.

"What the hell is going on?" Sophia gasped at her companion.

The look on Deirdre's face, as she turned to her, scared the hell out of Sophia. She couldn't remember ever seeing someone so terrified. And the fact that it was Dee made it all the worse.

"They found us!" Dee croaked, trying desperately to pry open the bars of the gate as she spoke. When that didn't work, she bent them so she could slip through and beckoned Sophia to do the same.

"Who found us?" Sophia's heart pounded as she attempted to turn and look behind her. Deirdre caught hold of her shoulders with an iron grip and faced her forward. "Don't look back! Don't ever look back! If you do, they'll catch us!"

With that, Deirdre took hold of Sophia's hand and pulled her toward the building that the iron gate surrounded. Before they slipped through the great wooden door at the front, Sophia just got a glimpse of the immense stone castle. Then, she was being pulled in a winding path through dusty abandoned hallways lined with decrepid old tapestries and rotting furniture. The dust made her cough and she tried to slow their pace. "I can't run anymore."

Deirdre ducked them in to what looked to be an old pantry, with a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. She pulled the switch and it flickered dimly to life. "We can rest here for a few minutes , then we have to move on. We have to find the Red Wolf. He can stop them. He can protect us."

Sophia shook her head. "Wait...the who? Protect us from what?"

Deirdre turned to answer Sophia but she was cut off by a horrible noise that came rumbling down the hallway. It sounded like thousands of people screaming at once, only it was so low pitched, it could have been the growl of a single beast. "We have to move! Now!"

Sophia allowed herself to be dragged out of the closet, as Deirdre doubled their pace, weaving through the corridors. Every once in a while, Deirdre would try to yank open a door, but they all seemed to be locked. They could hear the creature or creatures gaining behind them. Sophia started trying as well but none of the doors would budge. One doorknob even crumbled in her hand.

"It has to be here somewhere." Deirdre gasped, now winded herself. "He showed me. It has to be here!"

Sophia was about to ask, what should be here, but then she saw it. A door at the end of the hallway had red light pouring out from behind it over the frame. Sophia could barely breathe, so she just pointed. Deirdre gave her a relieved smile and they rushed to the door. Deirdre yanked it open, and they were confronted with a drop that went straight down, almost like the room on the other side had been cleaved off from the rest of the building.

Sophia screamed as she teetered on the edge of the drop off. Deirdre caught her and pulled her back in, but whatever was chasing them let out another horrible shriek and they could tell it was on its way. It was only then that Sophia realized the ground below them was moving. On further inspection, she could see that thousands of creatures, most wolf-like in some way, were clamouring to get up the side of the ruins beneath them. Trying to get at them!

"We have to jump." Deirdre said, her voice shaking.

"Are you crazy? That's like a hundred foot drop!" Sophia exclaimed.

"He's there!"

Off in the distance, Sophia saw a single wolf standing on a hill at least a mile off. She could tell by the size of it that it was male, and she recognized it as one of her own clan. But she had never seen a Wolf that color before. Deirdre had meant it when she had called him Red Wolf. His pelt was the color of a fire engine.

Sophia eyed the raging masses below. "And what about them?"

Deirdre huffed, her own breath catching. "We have to risk it. We have to get to him!"

A shadow fell over Deirdre's face, and the shriek of the creature came again. This time, Sophia could not resist. She turned to look at the creature. But before she could glimpse anything more than the swirling, shadowy edge of it, Deirdre pushed Sophia over the precipice. Sophia was falling and she could see Deirdre being dragged back into the building, engulfed in shadow.

* * *

 

Someone was screaming. Sophia could not tell if they were her own screams or Deirdre's but they stung her ears like the blare of a klaxon.

The sound was so load that it shook Sophia out of the horrible nightmare. She then became aware that someone was actually physically shaking her.

"Sophia wake up!" Luke shouted over the din. He was wearing only sweatpants and her sleepy brain's first reaction was one word. "Yum."

"What?" Luke looked down, following her line of sight, then smirked. "Look, baby, we can explore that thought later. Dee's magical alarm system got tripped. We gotta move you down to the basement. Come on!"

The hallway was filled with purplish smoke but it didn't seem to bother Sophia to breathe it. Luke dragged her by the hand to where Vivian and Matt were crouched at the top of the stairs.

"Where's Dee?" Luke asked.

"Outside." Donner replied. "She was wielding a mean looking axe, too. You two stay here. She might need back-up."

"No way!" Luke growled protectively. "She's my sister. I'm going!"

Matt's eye twinkled gold for a moment, but he got his anger under control quickly. "Do you love my daughter?"

Luke answered automatically. "Of course I do."

"Then show me that you can be a good Mate to her. Prove to me you're not just a hothead trying to get into her pants! She needs your protection now, so do right by her and keep her safe!" Donner shot back.

Luke mulled it over for a moment. He exchanged a look with Sophia and nodded at Matt. "We'll be in the basement. There's a spot down there where she'll be safe."

"Willard installed a panic room after the twins were born." Vivian confirmed.

Matt nodded and drew his gun. "I'll go first. Then Luke, then Sophia. V, you bring up the rear."

They proceeded to the first floor as Matt dictated, and he stayed with them until they got to the basement door. Once he was sure that they were safely locked away, Matt proceeded toward the front. He could see a brick laying on the floor of the living room, covered in glass from the picture window and blood. Human, he guessed from the smell.

He radioed Canin, knowing that it would take his Deputy a while to get to the scene. Then, he proceeded out to the front porch. Deirdre stood stock still on the edge of the first step, her head cocked to one side. He could tell she was listening for something. So he moved slowly, eyeing the axe held tight in her hand. He moved into her peripheral view and she acknowledged him with a slight nod.

Deirdre held up one finger, cocked her head the other way, then held up another. There were two of them. Matt motioned between them. She shook her head. Not Wolfen then. Something else.

She pointed to the him and to the ground. He raised an eyebrow. She was ordering him to stay? Dee glared at him and made a motion toward the roof. He nodded in understanding.

She moved down the steps slowly. As expected, the creature crouching on the roof sprung at her, tumbling down to the lawn with her. Matt hardly had time to flip his safety off before the vampire fell under the Slayer's axe. But when the one hiding in the bushes started towards her he opened fire.

The vampire snarled and spun toward Matt, its beautiful face contorted into a fanged smile and it dissolved into smoke. Deirdre cursed under her breath holding her wrist and threw her axe to Matt. "It's a Ravnos, don't trust your eyes!"

He caught the weapon easily, but didn't have time to change hands before he was grabbed from behind and dragged to the ground. Both weapons fell to the ground. The next thing he knew, a giant panther slashed claws across his chest. Matt rolled out of the way of the next blow and managed to grab his gun. He got off a lucky shot, catching the panther in the chest. By the time he shot again the panther had vanished. "What the hell?"

A second later the panther came out of no where again. This time he was ready. He extended his claws and went for its jugular. He caught only mist, but it felt solid enough. Matt closed his eyes and squeezed. The mist faded away to reveal the vampire female beneath. She pulled a dagger out of her ornate bodice, and fast as a blur buried it in Matt's leg. He released her, howling in pain. But when she turned to run, she ran straight into Deirdre's axe and lost her head.

Only it wasn't Deirdre wielding it. It was Tyler Creed. The Slayer was laying face down just feet away, crumpled to the ground.


	24. Cleaning Up

"What the hell just happened?" Matt groaned.

"I could ask you the same thing." Tyler growled, rolling Dee over. She was clutching her wrist and hyperventilating. Her eyes were unfocused and her mouth was moving like she was trying to talk but no sound came out.

"Dee, can you hear me?" Tyler took her face in one hand.

She coughed. "Perimeter."

Tyler nodded. "Four in the back. A couple got inside. Looked like another scouting party. They're all dead."

"My heart." Deirdre started to shake, grabbing at her chest.

Tyler grabbed her wrist. It had a chunk of flesh bitten out of it. The wound was already beginning to smell. "You're bit. What kind was it?"

"Infectoid vamp." She choked out. "Adrenaline. My bag. Inside. It'll stop the infection."

Without a word, he picked her up and whisked her inside. Stepping over one headless body, and a mound of liquified flesh, he deposited Dee on the sofa in Vivian's office. Matt followed. Dee had become very pale, was hyperventilating and a fever burnt her brow. Tyler's frown intensified. "Which bag?"

"Duffel. Closet." She sputtered out before the shakes took her again.

"Can I trust you to watch her?" Tyler asked Donner.

"Go." Donner nodded. Tyler bolted up the stairs.

A second later Kanin came into the room followed by Ruby, Vivian, Luke and Sophia. "The perimeter is cleared. Covered in bodies, but cleared. What's happening here, boss?"

"A very short-lived siege. Deirdre was bitten." Donner replied. He sent Kanin to secure the bodies of the vampires that had attacked the house, then to call Sherman Blackstone. Sophia crashed into a nearby easy chair, Luke wrapping a protective arm around her.

Vivian ran to her daughter's side, but Dee pushed her off, screaming and recoiling. She yelled at Vee in what sounded like French, crying in English that she wasn't safe. She kept clawing at her chest until Luke and Donner restrained her.

Tyler broke through the line of terrified looking onlookers. He'd brought Dee's whole duffel with him. Ruby started to protest his presence, but he told her unceremoniously to shove it. He knelt at Dee's side. Tyler produced 2 vials, one filled with a clear liquid and one with a greenish liquid, and an old fashioned metal syringe. He stroked Dee's face, gripping it almost lovingly to get her attention. "Slayer, I need you to focus for me. Which vial and how much?"

She couldn't speak, so she pointed to the clear vial and held her fingers to the syringe to indicate the amount the was needed. Then she tapped her chest, right over her heart. Ruby shook her head, grabbing Tyler's arm as he filled the syringe. "This is crazy, we should wait for Sherman."

She got matching growls from Tyler, Deirdre, and surprisingly Vivian. "There's no time."

Tyler raised the syringe. "Ready?"

Dee nodded and braced a hand on his shoulder. He plunged the syringe into her chest, delivering the adrenaline directly into her heart. She convulsed for a moment her back going rigid, then gasped, bolting straight up on the sofa. She took a few more ragged breaths and tipped her head back. "Damn, I hate it when that happens."

"That's happened more than once?" Luke scoffed.

Vivian crossed her arms over her chest. "Would you care to explain, young lady?"

Dee at least had the good grace to look sheepish. She explained in halting breaths as Ruby handed her a glass of water.

"Infectoid vampires transmit viruses that stop your heart, then turn you. If you can keep the heart beating, you can keep the infection from taking hold. From there my heightened immune system will knock out the rest of the virus. I should only have a mild fever for the rest of the night."

"And you found this out how?" Donner asked, assuming a similar stance to Vivian.

"Ran into a couple Infectoids in Mile End. Doc fixed me up. Figured it would be a good idea to keep some adrenaline on me in case it happened again." She explained flippantly. "Don't look so worried sheriff, I'll be fine by tomorrow."

"It's so weird that this is like old hat for you." Sophia shivered.

Dee shrugged. "Just part of the deal."

"Dee?!" Tyler growled. He had discreetly slipped the vials and syringe back into her duffel bag.

"I'll be fine, Ty." Dee reassured him. "I owe you double now."

They exchanged a meaningful glance, and Dee turned to Donner. "Has the perimeter been secured?"

Donner nodded. "Thanks to your friend here. I don't suppose you'd care to elaborate on what each of these vampires is?"

"Matt, can't it wait?" Vivian asked. "She nearly died."

"No" Dee protested. "He needs to know."

This raised eyebrows around the room. She turned back to Donner. "Look, I can be a royal bitch, I know that. But I'm not benightedly stupid. I'm not going to withhold information that could get all of us killed. I'll help you clean up this mess. And we can go over each of these vamps, their strengths and weaknesses. But I need your help with something as well, and you're not going to like it."

Matt gave her an assessing look and took in a stabilizing breath. "What do you need?"

"To start training your daughter. And my brother. And so do you."

Matt growled. "Absolutely not."

"Wait, train us for what?"

"Dugare is escalating." Dee said ignoring Luke in favor of the room. "He knows I'm here and he may eventually grow cocky enough to send a whole squadron after Sophia. They need to know how to defend themselves. And I'm willing to teach them to fight my way. But I need you to teach them to fight your way."

"No, I am fully capable of protecting my daughter. Thank you very much."

"And I am telling you that you are not capable of doing that alone. No matter what you and Vivian may think. Sophia needs you, and Luke, and me to get her through this. But she also needs to know that she can protect herself if it comes down to it. You want me to trust you? I'm trying to meet you half-way here. So do me a favor, get your head out of your ass and do the same!"

"Excuse me. I have something to say" Sophia said softly, rising out of her chair. It was barely above a whisper, but everyone heard and turned.

"Dee is right. Dugare is coming for me and you guys will potentially be putting your lives on the line for me. I'm a danger to you and I'm a danger to the pack."

"Honey..." "You're not.." Sophia interrupted Luke and her father. "I am! But I don't have to be. The white wolves of legend were Alphas, meant to lead the pack. And how can I do that if I'm running to a panic room, when danger comes calling? There are a lot of kids in this town, kids my age and younger, both human and Wolf that could get caught in the crossfire here."

"So here's what I think we should do. Dad, I know that mom made you promise not to shift after she died. And I respect that. Vivian, Luke, and Ruby can teach me to fight in wolf form. Dee will train me and Luke in hand to hand combat."

Sophia saw Dee nodding and continued "...and any other Hill kid who wants to learn."

"Oh no! I am not educator material. I've been training since I was ten. I can give a crash course to you and Luke... but a whole class?" Dee held her hands up.

"We're a pack, Deirdre." John said. "Our strength is in our numbers. If one of us falls there are others to pick up the slack. The more people you train, the more effective we can all be." Ruby squeezed his hand and smiled, she was proud of him.

"That's not how I operate. The more people I train, the more I have to worry about in battle, the less effective I am. A Slayer works alone." Dee countered.

"You aren't just a Slayer." Vivian replied. "You never have been."

For a moment Dee looked as if she might strike her birth mother. There was so much anger and mistrust for Vivian having abandoned her. Matt saw the pain in Vivian and brushed her arm. "I'll agree to allow Sophia to take up training, and I'll support you among the parents in training the Hill kids. Meeting half-way, remember?"

"Maybe Luke and I can even show you how to fight as a wolf." Ruby offered with an excited smile. Luke nodded. "I'm in."

Deirdre's hard gaze snapped toward her brother and sister. "I don't shift! Period."

"What do you mean, you don't..?" Sophia asked confused

"Period. As in end of discussion." Dee retorted sharply. "I will train you and Luke, and any of the nasty neophytes this town has to offer. But what I do with my own body is my own business, capice?"

Looking everyone straight in the eye, and seeing nods all around, Dee sighed. "Then it looks like we have a deal. Now if you'll excuse me, I really need to take a smoke break. I'll be back in 10 to help with the cleanup."

She walked out of the house and onto the porch, not caring that she could hear heated discussion broiling in her wake. She needed a break from the back and forth. She lit a cigarette, drawing the smoke in and feeling it drift over her nerves. It was a few moments after sitting down on the porch swing that she felt a weight on it next to hers.

"Mind if I join you?" he said.

"You've saved my life twice in 24 hours." She replied. "I'd be a cow to tell you to shove off now."

Dee tipped her pack of cigarettes in Tyler's direction, offering him one. He shook his head. "I quit years ago."

She nodded. "Nasty habit."

"They're not so bad you know. And much as I hate to admit that Loverboy is right about anything, we are a pack."

She shook her head. "No, you and Lucas are the only ones in this town I trust to have my back."

"And Vivian. I can't tell you about the others. But I know her better than anyone. And I can tell you, that woman will jump in front of a train before she lets anything happen to you."

"Not me. Luke yes, but not me." Dee muttered bitterly.

"Dee look at me." Tyler said steadily. She obeyed. "I know you don't remember...well anything, from when you grew up here. But I do. Now, you said you trust me to have your back?"

She nodded. She didn't even have to think about it.

"I will tell you this once, so please hear it. Vivian loves you. She had reasons for doing everything that she did back then. I can't tell you because I don't know all of them. At some point I'm sure she will tell you why. But just know that when it comes down to it, you can trust her."

She thought about it, then nodded. "I'll try. But that's all I can promise."

"That's all I ask." Tyler replied.

"I should get back in there. I did promise to help with cleanup." Dee stubbed out her cigarette, and wiped her hands on her jeans. "You'll be around?"

He nodded. "I'm not exactly popular in this crowd, so I may hang in the background. But I'll be around."

"You'll have to tell me that story at some point. Goodnight Tyler. And thanks"

Tyler waited for Deirdre to go back inside, then walked out onto the drive. He turned, cocking his head to one side. "You can come out now."

A figure came up behind him and slammed him into the door of his SUV. She wrapped a hand around his throat as her eyes blazed at him. "What the hell kind of game do you think you're playing?"

Tyler looked calmly down at his ex-wife. "Could you be more specific?"

"When you granted the divorce, when you let me go, I thought for a moment that you were actually turning into a decent person." Ruby growled. "But it turns out being turned vamp didn't change you at all. Still the same old Tyler. Always with a scheme up his sleeve. Now you're playing hero to suck up to the Slayer. Isn't she a little young for you, Ty?"

Tyler gripped her wrist and pulled her hand away from his throat, glaring at her. "What I am is no longer your concern. You have what you want Ruby. I'm out of your life. But what that also means is that I don't have to put up with your bullshit anymore. Leave me alone."

He got into the Jeep and turned on the engine. Ruby leaned in the open window and smirked.

"Do you think my little sister will be so loyal to you when she finds out that this hero façade, that you've put on, is just that? What happens when I tell her that you've been through Vivian and me, trying to get to the top? We both know that she's just another Cates woman to notch into your bed post."

"But she's not." It was Tyler's turn to smirk. "She's not a Cates, and she's not your sister. At least not by blood. You haven't the faintest clue what she is Ruby. You want to tell her that I've slept with you and Vivian? Go ahead. I'll just keep pulling her out of the fires that she gets herself into. We'll let her decide who to trust. But quite frankly, if I were you, I'd be more concerned with the army of vampires out there jonesing for the blood of a White Wolf."

With that, Tyler spend off, leaving Ruby to seethe in his wake.


	25. Sparring by any Other Name

Lucas was on edge. 

Sitting in Sherman's senior science class, he was counting down the minutes. It was last period, and he had way bigger things to think about than high school at the moment. He could feel his sister's eyes boring into the back of his head. Dee had taken up position at an empty lab table in the back of the room, so she had sight-lines on him and Sophia, as well as any threats that might come in.

It had quickly become apparent to Lucas that Deirdre considered pretty much everyone a threat, with the exceptions of him, Sophia, and possibly Sherman. Though Luke couldn't be sure about the last. The Hill kids were supposed to adjourn to the gym after last period for a private training session with the Slayer. Vivian had cleared it with the Wolfen parents.

"Can anyone tell me what the biggest threat to a wolf pack is?" Asked Sherman, taking a break in yet another slideshow.

Sean raised a hand. "Shrinking habitat."

"Human predation." Rhianna countered.

"All good answers." Sherman smiled slyly. "Deirdre, would you care to hazard a guess?"

Dee looked up from the design she was whittling into the desk with her pencil. "Pardon?"

Snickers went up around the room, but died out with the look she gave them. Sherman repeated. "What is the biggest threat to a wolf pack? Deforestation and hunting by humans have already been offered."

"Are we talking from within or without?" Deirdre replied.

"By all means, if you can think of one for each."

"The greatest outside threat to a pack would be other more dominant or pervasive wolf packs. Sure humans are a threat, but they cannot attack what they don't know is there. Other packs can smell weakness and may be inclined to vie for territory. Which would undoubtedly attract unwanted attention. " Deirdre finished.

Every eye in the room was on her. None of them had expected a thought-out answer, since she'd neither grown up in their culture, nor been paying particular attention in class. Sherman rocked on the balls of his feet, a huge smile on his face. "Alrighty, and the biggest internal threat?"

"Tactically speaking? A weak leader. One who cannot hold the line in battle."

It was a barely veiled jab at her own mother, and it had jaws hitting the desk. A growl built up in Luke's throat, but Deirdre just gave him a calm cold look until he was forced to look away. Thankfully, the bell chose that minute to ring and they all shuffled out.

Deirdre followed Luke and Sophia to his locker. He needed to get his gym clothes and head to the locker room. The girls had already packed theirs. "What the hell was that?"

"What?" Dee replied innocently. "I was participating in a theoretical class discussion."

"It's not good to question Vivian in front of the other Hill kids." Sophia murmured, hopefully below the hearing of the other Wolfen roaming the halls. "Implied or not, this is not the time for them to start doubting the strength of their Alpha."

Deirdre scoffed but had the decency to look sheepish. "You're right. I'm sorry. I have a hard time playing well with others and this place is making me twitchy. I'll behave from now on."

Her brother gave her a look, so Dee threw up her hands. "My hand to God on it."

"Well, you can certainly put your hands on me anytime." came a voice from behind her.

The wolf boy was a hand taller than Deirdre and had cruel eyes. Luke bristled, "Back off Aiden."

Aiden had obviously waited until Luke's betas had all headed toward the locker room to start shit. But he put on a sweet face. "No worries Cates. I just realized that I hadn't welcomed your sister to town know I just loved how you handled yourself in class today."

Apparently his idea of 'properly' was to massage her shoulders just long enough to try and 'handle' her. Deirdre had a thing about touching. "I promised my brother I'd behave. So I'm gonna ask you nicely to remove your hands from my body now."

Again Luke growled, and Aiden pointedly ignored him, and reached in to grope her chest. "No worries, sweet thing. It is a fantastic body! And I very much look forward to having it pressed up against me during your little training lessons today."

Dee looked from Sophia back to Luke, and sighed. Mouthing "Sorry."

She clocked the boy in the nose, then swept his closest leg out from under him. This caught the attention of Presley and Rhianna nearby and Sean who was ambling back down the hall. They started towards the twins but Luke gave them a warning look. Dee had Aiden's hand bent behind his back and her other hand wrapped around the back of his neck.

"Lesson the first." Dee replied in an instructive tone. "Females are neither the weaker nor inferior sex, though many of us are taught to believe so. What we lack in upper body strength, we make up for in speed, agility, and leg power. A well trained female could break your arm in several places for doing what you just did. Or in my case she could simply incapacitate you using the right pressure points. All of this is to tell you that if you wish to survive in any battleground situation, never underestimate your opponent...least of all due to gender."

A slow clapping sound started at the tail end of the hallway, then broke out into full fledged applause. Aiden was a jerk to all the females, human and wolf, and this had been a long time coming. Deirdre released him and nodded to Sophia to head toward the gym. Luke took up the rear, smiling matter-of-factly as the other Hill kids followed them. Aiden ambled a few paces behind.

* * *

 

Sherman locked the doors of the gym once all the Hill kids were present and accounted for. Some of the younger wolves sat on the floor, but most had taken to the bleachers. Sherman cleared his throat. "Listen up! It has been determined by a jury of your elders that you melonheads will spending the rest of your afternoon in combat and self defense training. I'm sure you've all heard the rumors. Now, I'd like to introduce you to your trainer. Dee Pierson aka Deirdre Cates aka the Vampire Slayer."

There was a half hearted applause as Dee took her place in front of the crowd. "Hello. As Sherman said, I'm sure you have all heard the rumors. Yes, I am Lucas Cates's twin sister. Yes I was sent away to be raised in the human world. Yes, I kill vampires and any number of other beasties for a living. As for the no's... For the females, I have no intention of dating your boyfriends. For the males, I have no intention of dating you."

Laughter rolled over the group, relieving the tension. There were some choice remarks about her sexual orientation from the boys, that Dee chose to ignore. She did notice one rather quiet girl raising her hand.

"Yes, could you stand up please, and state your question...?"

"Sarah." the girl replied, standing up.

"What can I do for you, Sarah?"

"Why are you here really? I mean, why do we need training? And why now?"

"Good question." Dee said rocking on her heels. "I'm here because your pack is in danger."

There were frightened murmurs all around. Luke put two fingers to his lips and whistled loudly to get the room's attention back. He gestured toward his sister, and she continued.

"A very old, very nasty vampire has targeted the Wolf Lake Pack to complete a ritual which will render him impervious to sunlight. Vivian is informing your parents as we speak, and the adult members of the pack will be forming a counteroffensive strategy with an aim to protect the town as a whole from attack."

"That's BS." Shouted a male voice from the stands. Aiden. "There's no such thing as vampires!"

"You mean like there's no such thing as werewolves?" Deirdre said raising an eyebrow. When he didn't challenge her again, she turned back to the group. "Believe me, DuGare is very real. He is amassing troops of minions. We don't know when he will attack, but we can be reasonably sure it will be soon, and almost certainly at night."

"What does he want?" Yelled a voice from the crowd.

"Wolf blood." Deirdre said, keeping it deliberately vague.

"How can we defend against vampires?" said one voice, while another yelled. "What are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to train you to fight in human form." Deirdre replied to both questions. "And I intend to stand by this town in battle and protect it to my last breath."

"We don't need to fight in human form." Rhianna offered. "We're lethal enough when we Flip. Especially when we're together. The Pack protects each other."

"Fair enough." Dee said. "I agree that the Pack is at it's strongest fighting together. And I'll grant you, that you are most effective in wolf form. But what about when you cannot Flip? Like when you are around humans, or when someone attacks you and you don't have time to Flip? What then?"

Again the Hill kids murmured amongst themselves. Dee sighed. "Here's the thing. Most of you have lived in this town your whole life, sheltered and protected. You've had to be weary of exposure to humans, but you've never had to actually fight anyone other than each other. Vampires are vicious, fast, and can equal or surpass you in strength."

"So how do we survive?" Sophia asked.

Dee smiled, the first genuine smile most of them had seen from her. "By NOT doing what everyone else in your lives has done. Your parents, your teachers, your friends. Don't underestimate yourselves. You are, each and every one of you, a natural force to be reckoned with. You are strong, you are wild, you're adaptable, and you are most of all unpredictable. With your ability to fight as a unit, and just a few hours of training in hand to hand combat, I pity any vampire that sets foot in this town."

The murmurs grew in intensity. Presley raised a hand. "But you've had years to learn how to fight in human form. And I've seen those things. They're brutal. How can you expect us to defend against an army of them?"

"Another good question." Dee said. "Come here."

Presley gave the Slayer a reluctant look, but lifted her head high and stomped down the bleachers to stand in front of Dee. Dee walked a slow assessing circuit around Presley and addressed the crowd. "What do you all see? Describe her to me."

"A bitch." yelled another female from the bleachers, prompting a growl from Presley. She continued to hold her head up under the spotlight of her peers' critical looks.

Dee smiled slyly "I'll grant you that, but what else?"

"Female."

"Petite." came another voice. "Small."

"Scrappy."

"Fearless." Luke offered with a smile.

"Weak." Aiden grumbled. Again Presley growled at him.

"Really?" Dee asked conspiratorially.

It was that tone that clued Presley in. She jumped back just in time to avoid the leg sweep that Dee delivered. When the Slayer sent a jab to her face, Presley blocked as well as she could and countered, spinning around to elbow Dee in the back.

Dee caught the arm and threw Presley back several feet, then came at her with a complicated series of punches and kicks, all of which the petite blond managed to block until the last one. Presley had kicked out with her left foot and thought she'd connected, but she misjudged the rebound and dodged too far to the right . She flinched back and waited for the right hook to catch her in the face, but it never did.

She opened her eyes to see Dee's fist, stopped close enough to her face for her eyelashes to brush. As Deirdre lowered her fist slowly, Presley could tell three things. The Slayer was breathing hard, she was smiling, and she had a bloody lip.

Dee began to circle again, she spoke loud enough for the crowd to hear, but she never took her eyes off of Presley.

"You wanna know what I see? I see someone who is small, and a girl, and has been put down for it. I see someone who has spent her whole life fighting her way to the top of the heap, over males and females alike, only to have what she wanted most taken from her. And she's pissed."

Dee gave Presley a conspiratorial wink. "I see a fighter who won't go down without making her opponent earn it. I see a warrior who, no matter her size or gender, can and will make any vampire that is stupid enough to underestimate her crumble to dust at her feet. And she'll enjoy it. That is what I see."

Then, Dee turned to the crowd. "That is the potential that I see in all of you. You may not be battle tested yet, but you will be soon. This is your town. Are you going to let them take it?"

"No!" came the murmured growl from the Brat Pack.

"Sorry?" Dee mumbled in her thickest Cockney accent. "I can't hear ya?"

"No!" They screamed back. Presley, Luke, and Sophia all joined in.

"Good!" She returned. "Then get your arses down here and pair up. I've only got a few hours to whip you all into fighting shape, and it isn't gonna be pretty. Pair off boy-girl. Luke with Sophia. Sean with Rhianna. Melody with Grant, and so on. Presley?"

Presley whirled back to face Dee. "Yeah?"

"Good shot." Dee said, indicating her lip.

"I got lucky." Presley shrugged.

"Bullshit." Dee countered. "You went a round with a Slayer and managed to not only stay upright, but to draw blood. Humility doesn't become you, so own it. But do me a favor, okay?"

A smile slid to Presley's face. "Alright. What?"

"Kick Aiden's ass."

Deirdre spent the next two hours teaching the Hill Kids various punches, kicks, and blocks.

"Gentlemen, you have the raw power. Be ready to encounter young vampires. The crazy ones with lots of bloodlust. DuGare will be looking to overwhelm you. But you've got this! You're young, and you're aggressive. Use that!"

Dee walked around the room correcting forms.

"Ladies, your opponents will be likely to underestimate you. They'll take you for the killers you are, but they will assume your first priority is childcare. Let the mothers in the pack take that job. They can do it better. You young females have the element of surprise. They won't see a full out attack coming from a girl. Use that!"

Dee looked over at where Sophia and Luke were sparring. Luke was clearly pissing his girlfriend off. "Hold!"

Everyone stopped fighting while Dee stepped over to her brother. "Sophia? What's the problem?"

Sophia huffed. "He's not even trying to hit me."

Luke huffed. "My job is to protect you, not beat on you."

"I see." said Deirdre. "So, your idea of protecting her is to let her languish in this relatively safe environment, and let her learn to fight when her life is on the line?"

"I'm not going to hurt my girlfriend to soothe your ego, teach." Luke gritted his teeth at his sister.

"Uh huh." Dee turned to Sophia. "Do you mind if I cut in?"

Sophia gave a saccharine smile. "By all means."

Dee squared her shoulders and took up a stance opposite her brother. The Hill kids all turned to watch. Luke shrugged. "I'm not afraid to fight you."

"Then you haven't been paying enough attention." Dee said. Then she turned her back on him completely. "Your move."

Luke shook his head. "I'm not hitting you while your back is turned."

"Your move!" She said again, her voice brooking no argument. Luke growled and sent a half-hearted jab toward her ribs. She caught his fist and used his momentum to flip him over onto the practice mat. She then made a motion for him to get up.

Luke advanced on Deirdre again punching and kicking at her. He landed a few blows, but he wasn't quite sure if it was simply her allowing him to do so. She never advanced on him. Just took the defensive stance over and over again. He still ended up ass to mat nearly every time. The last time that Dee slammed him into the mat, she put a bare foot into his sternum. "What have you learned?"

"Never piss off your sister?" Sean offered to Luke. Luke nodded, out of breath. "What he said."

Dee gave Luke a hand up, ruffling his hair. "Are you hurt?"

"Nah, just my pride." Luke smiled as the other Hill kids laughed.

Dee nodded. "That's the point. Sparring allows us to practice both offensive and defensive moves. To get them scripted into muscle memory. It's not about hurting or damaging your opponent. It is about challenging them and yourself to push past your limits. Understand?"

Luke nodded and squared up against Sophia again. She gave him a mischievous grin, and following Dee's example, turned her back toward him.

After she felt they'd had enough boy-girl sparring, she whistled and had them pair off against their own gender. These fights were more brutal. The young wolves were used to dominance fights within their gender.

"Remember, we're sparring here, so don't do any damage that cannot heal quickly. It's more important for you to get the technique down than to level your opponent. In a real fight you will go no holds barred against your enemy. But the person you fight now, may be the one watching your back against the vampires."

They trained for a few hours before Deirdre called them to the center. "Tonight talk to your parents. Discuss battle plans and exit strategies with your families. Vivian will have given instructions for evacuation points and overall game plan. But remember to hug the ones you love and tell them how much you care about them. None of us knows what the future will bring."

With that, the Slayer bowed to them, signaling the end of the session. As a wave, the wolves bowed back.

As they headed out of the gym, the sun was setting. The other Hill kids were getting in their cars and driving off. But before Sophia and the twins could, Horus screeched out of the sky overlooking the main road and alighted on Luke's hood. "What the?"

A motorcycle streaked around the corner of the school, stopping just feet from Luke's car, as if it had followed the falcon in. The rider was taller than Dee, male, and his scent carried a whiff of ozone with it, like he'd been struck by lightning.

Dee put her body in front of Sophia's. "Shit."

 _Get in the car._ Dee pushed at her companions mentally. They could tell that she recognized the rider as a threat.

 _Not a chance._ Sophia countered. Luke nodded his agreement.

 _It wasn't a request._ Dee returned. _He's not a vamp, he's a..._

The thought trailed off as the rider removed his helmet. Dee glared incredulously at the strawberry blond curls and worried blue eyes it revealed. "Richie? What the hell are you doing here?"

Richard Ryan returned the glare. "I could ask you the same goddamn question, Deirdre Elaine Pierson. You have MacLeod and your Dad worried sick about you!"


	26. Splitsville

Before Deirdre could reply, Horus gave a squawk and took flight. The sun was setting.

Luke noted the pained look in his sister's eyes as she addressed the rider. His twin obviously knew the man, he knew her middle name. But Luke couldn't tell if Richie was a threat. Dee shook her head. "I can't talk right now, Richie. It's not safe here. Go back to Seacouver, I'll try to contact you when I can."

"Oh I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell you are doing out here in the Boondocks, and why you walked out on your life in Paris."

Luke's head snapped to the side. He gave a growl to Dee. "I thought you said you flew in from Romania?"

Dee growled back at her brother. "Not the time, Lucas."

Dee was walking over to her bike. "I've got a bit of a crisis to manage here, Rich. Big bad, yadda yadda yadda. Slayer stuff, you understand. It would be best if you kept your distance until it blows over."

"Nah, I'm not making it that easy." Richie grabbed onto Dee's arm as she shoved her gym bag into the storage on her bike. Instantly, Sophia came up to Dee's other side and Lucas was at Richie's side, threatening.

"You're gonna want to take your hands off my sister, friend." He growled, the wolf just under the surface.

"Sister?" Richie repeated. He dropped Dee's arm, shocked.

Deirdre gave a much put upon sigh. "Relax. Both of you. Lucas, meet Richie, the closest thing I had to a big brother growing up. Richie, this is Lucas, my twin brother."

"Brother?" Richie shook his head, taking a step back.

"Still so quick on the uptake, Rich." Dee replied. "Yes. And as for why I'm out here, this happens to be where I was born."

Richie's response was cut off as a form dropped out of the darkening sky. The bird hit the asphalt in a bloody plop. Deirdre dropped down to her knees next to it.

The falcon's wings were spread out rigidly and there was a hole where its heart should be. He had a tell tale set of green and black ribbons trailing from one leg. It shuttered once, and then was still.

"Horus." Dee breathed jaggedly.

"What the hell?" Richie gasped.

When Dee turned back to face Richie and Luke, her eyes were bright gold rimmed with tears. She looked up at the sky. The last embers of sunshine were dying. "We haveta move now. Luke, what's the quickest way back to your place?"

"Past the old graveyard. Why?"

"They killed him in the air. Get in your car and go now. Richie and I will bring up the rear and attract as much attention as we can."

"But what about.." Sophia began to protest

Shadows approached in the sky, striking fear in her heart. Dee snapped in front of Sophia's face to get her to refocus."I said go!"

Dee's tone brooked no argument. Luke and Sophia ran to Luke's muscle car and sped out of the parking lot. They sped through town with Richie and Dee behind them. They hopped onto the highway that ran past the graveyard. There was a thump on the top of the car.

"Luke?" Sophia shrieked, her fear filling the cabin. A loud pound sounded and the roof dented in between them. They both screamed in shock, then the buzzing noise of a motorcycle pulled along in front of them. It was Deirdre swinging something around her head.

She released the bolas and whatever was on the roof collapsed. Luke slammed on the brakes and a headless body tumbled down the windshield as it turned to dust. It didn't disintegrate before getting caught in the undercarriage due to the car's momentum. The mustang pitched to the side and off into a ditch, sliding face first into an iron post and taking out a section of the fence that surrounded the graveyard. The two motorcycles jumped through the gap after them.

Luke blacked out after his head hit the windshield, Sophia began to shake him. The passenger's side door of the car wrenched open, startling her. Sophia screamed and kicked out viciously. One of the kicks connected before Deirdre caught her leg.

"Easy!" Dee hissed rubbing her arm as she released Sophia's foot.

Sophia took a centering breath. "Luke's bleeding and he won't wake up. Are they out there?"

Dee shook her head. "Either we ran the others off, or the can't set foot on holy ground. The graveyard's blessed, so we'll go with that for the moment."

Luke groaned as Richie opened the driver's side door. Startled,he swiped out at his rescuer, claws extended. Luke managed to slice up the chest of Richie's t-shirt before Sophia caught his arm. Richie howled.

"Crap! Luke settle down, he's trying to help." Dee growled.

"Gah!" Luke hissed, retracting his claws and putting a hand to the gash in his forehead. "Sorry, man."

Dee rounded the car to help Sophia ease Luke out of the driver's seat. Richie grumbled. "So he's...he's like you, a...?"

"Werewolf? Yeah, he's my twin Rich."

"He's not Pack." Sophia hissed.

"Her too? Is this whole town werewolves?"

"We shouldn't be talking about this with him!" Sophia insisted.

"I second that." Luke mumbled, steadying himself on the side of his car.

Dee rolled her eyes. "Richie lift up your shirt."

"Dee?" Shooting her a suspicious glare.

"Just do it!"

Richie lifted his t-shirt to reveal four muscle-deep, but rapidly healing slashes in his otherwise unmarred chest. Little lightning bolts skipped across the wounds, closing them up like tiny stitches.

"See?" Deirdre breathed to Sophia. "Richie's not exactly an average human himself. Also, we need him now. Luke, can you stand?"

Luke wobbled a bit but was able to stand on his own. "I'm good."

"Sophia?"

"Yeah. I wasn't hurt."

"Okay here's the plan. Sophia rides with Richie, Luke rides with me.."

"Oh hell no!" Luke protested. "Sophia isn't leaving my side. Not with those things out there."

"Your car is totalled. You are in no shape to drive, let alone fight and ride at the same time. Sophia?"

Sophia shook her head. "I've ridden on the back of Kanin's motorcycle but never operated one."

"It is only a matter of time before they get in here, and they can smell your blood, Luke. Richie is the fastest thing on two wheels. He's a racing champion and he taught me to ride."

Luke gave Richie a weary look. The older man nodded. "I'll get her there. You have my word."

"It'll be okay Luke." Sophia whispered, kissing him softly.

"Do you guys hear that?" Dee said, looking back at the gravestones.

Richie shook his head. "Hear what?"

"It sounded like someone screaming. A lot of someone's actually. But it was really faint." Dee replied with a furrowed brow. "Nevermind. Not important. We good to go?"

Luke and Sophia nodded. Richie mounted the racing bike he had laid against a nearby tree. He rolled it to a level patch of dirt made by the car's treads and Sophia climbed on behind him. Luke rubbed her arm reassuringly and turned to Richie. "It's a big stone house about two miles up the highway, there are two wolf statues on the sides of the drive entry. You can't miss it. Take care of her, or you answer to me."

Richie nodded. Sophia donned his helmet, and they sped off. Deirdre grabbed her motorcycle and was wheeling it up to the road when, something plowed into her from the side. She rolled back into her brother. A blow upside the head reeled Dee backward. Her head cracked into hard gray headstone and she could just see two vampires dragging Luke out of the graveyard before everything went black.

As Richie's bike skidded to a stop at the stoop of the Cates house, Vivian and Matt came running out the front door. "Sophia? Are you alright? Who's this?"

"I'm fine, Dad. This is Richie, a friend of Deirdre's. We got jumped outside the school by vampires."

"Where are the twins?" Vivian asked.

"The vamps jumped us outside the old graveyard. Luke's car was totalled, so we had to split up. He and Dee should be right behind us." Sophia replied.

"Uh, guys. We might want to have this conversation inside." Richie suggested, pointing at the shadows gathering at the end of the drive.

He was right, whoever he was, Vivian decided. Only a few moments after they came inside, vampires started melting out of the woods to surround the house. She had already dismissed her guard of beta wolves after their strategy meeting. All except for Tyler who had stayed behind to talk strategy. She sent out a siege alert over the pack's mental bonds while Ty hopped on the phone to alert Sherman.

Matt loaded a shotgun he had stowed in the office and handed Sophia a revolver. He held out glock of Richie. The young man shook his head and pulled a wicked looking broad sword from his duffel bag. Matt raised an eyebrow and shrugged. He picked up his radio. "This is the sheriff calling Deputy Kanin. Come back John."

"Go for Kanin." the radio crackled back.

"John, the big house is crawling with vampires. I'm pinned down, and I need you to implement the battle plan. Get our crew to the station. Get everyone in town to safety. Vee's calling the shots from the Hill."

"You're the boss." John replied. "Kanin out."

There was a scuffle outside one of the windows. Sounds of a fight rounded the house and Matt aimed his shotgun at the door. He nodded to Sophia who aimed at the windows.

Richie smirked. "Ten bucks says it's Dee who comes through the door."

The door handle jiggled and Deirdre limped in. Tyler was by her side before the others could register that she was falling. He bolstered her up, slamming the door behind her.

"Any more left?" Tyler asked as he eased her into a nearby chair. There was blood dripping down her face and from scratches on her naked arms. She'd lost another coat.

"I cleared out the perimeter of the house. But more will come. They always do."

"Where's Luke?" Vivian asked.

Dee shook her head in despair. "They knocked me out and they took him."

"So you came here?!" Sophia growled.

"I didn't see which way they took him." Dee growled back. "I had to come here to regroup. I need ten minutes to suit up, get more weapons, and then I'm going after him."

"Absolutely not!" Vivian raged. "You're hurt, and besides that the woods have to be crawling with vampires. You said yourself, you don't even know where they took him."

"They took him to DuGare. It shouldn't be too hard to find a vamp to take me to him. I'll just make him an offer he can't refuse to exchange Luke." Dee countered.

"And what do you intend to offer him in exchange?" Vivian asked incredulously.

"I'm going to give him exactly what he wants. A white wolf."

"Hell no!" Matt cried, pushing his daughter behind him. "We are not sacrificing Sophia! Or Ruby."

Dee leaned her head back against the wall tiredly. She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Who said anything about them?"


	27. With Her Back to the Wall

"This is crazy!" Vivian exclaimed, following her daughter up the stairs. "And I won't allow it."

Richie was right behind them "Yeah! What she said!"

Dee stumbled into her borrowed bedroom and fell to her knees in front of the closet door. "Vivian, I already told you. I don't care what you will or won't allow. Luke's in trouble and I don't leave family behind."

Vivian was about to make another comment but her jaw snapped shut with an audible clack of teeth. She blinked back sudden tears. Deirdre had pulled out her duffel bag and was pulling out an array of dangerous looking weapons. Vee crossed her arms.

"I am well aware that you hate me for giving you up. But that is not a good reason to go out there on your own and get yourself killed! Especially with some half-cocked plan to convince DuGare that you're a White Wolf. I am your mother and I will not let you commit suicide!"

Deirdre stood up on her wobbly bad leg, which she'd rebroken fighting her way back to the big house.

"I AM a White Wolf. Got the pelt to prove it! And for the last time. YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER. A mother stands by her child until death do them part. My mother died taking a bullet for me when some stupid gangbangers decided to pull a drive-by while we were out for groceries!"

By this point Dee's eyes were laced with tears and she was shouting at Vivian, not caring who else could hear.

"Just Stop! Stop fighting me, and trying to protect me from the world. Because you can't! I am a Slayer and it is my destiny to die protecting others. So the best I can hope for is that I get Luke back, that Sophia, and Ruby, and Kanin, and Donner, and all the rest of the wolves and humans in this town make it out alive....including you. I don't hate you, Vivian. I don't even know you. You want to be my mother? Then help me! Help me stop DuGare, and save this town, and bring my brother home!"

Vivian gave Deirdre a soul searching look. "Alright. What can I do to help?"

Deirdre deflated in front of her. Her expression softening toward the older woman. "You can give me five minutes. I need to get cleaned up. And I need to talk to Richie, then Tyler privately. Go ahead with your contingency plans for the rest of the pack. I promise I'll be down in a tick, and we can come up with an infiltration plan together. I know you need to think of the Pack first."

Vivian nodded, walking out of the room gracefully, leaving Dee and Richie alone.

"Dee, what the hell?" Richie hissed when he thought Vivian was out of earshot.

"I'm sorry Richie but I don 'ave the time to explain." Dee replied, dipping into her cockney accent. "This is bad, Richie. Really bad. And there is a possibility that I may not survive this fight."

Richie grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "Let me call Mac. Adam is in Europe searching for you. But even if he can't get here in time, MacLeod's only twenty minutes away. We can think of something!"

Dee shook her head. "No. I already thought I lost Doc once. I won't be the reason he ends. And I won't sacrifice any more of the people I love. If things go pear-shaped, you are the only one that might make it out of this alive. So, I need you to do something for me."

Richie frowned at Deirdre but nodded. "Yeah, anything."

Dee went to her bed, She pulled the knife and the fabric wrapped parcel out from under her pillow. She slipped the knife into her boot and held out the parcel in front of Richie. She unwrapped the fabric slowly, so Richie could see that it was a dirty worn baby blanket, that had faded from it's original pink to a dusty brown color. Inside was a wooden box, about the size of a music box, taller than it was wide, with intricately carved sides but no visible lid. On top of the box sat a stack of letters, addressed to Mac, Amanda, Joe, the Halliwell sisters, and even one for Richie himself.

The last letter was labeled "Dearest Nick - to be opened only in the event of my death." It was attached to the top of the box with what looked like sealing wax. Deirdre wrapped the blanket back around the box and the letters and handed them to Richie.

"This package holds the objects that are most precious to me in the whole world. If I don't make it out of this..."

"Dee."

She cut him off with a withering glance.

"If I don't make it out of this, I'd appreciate it if you'd deliver the letters to the people I've addressed them to." She handed him the knife as well. "Give this to Doc. Tell him that I didn't write him a letter because I didn't know he survived the attack in Paris. But tell him I love him, and that this kept me alive when I needed it."

"And the box?" Richie asked softly.

The tears that had been building started to leak from the sides of Deirdre's eyes. "The box is the most important. If I...If I die, I need you to make sure it gets to Nick Boyle at the Luna Foundation on Angel Island, San Francisco. Can you do that for me Richie?"

Richie nodded. "Yeah I can do that."

Dee wrapped her arms around him and clutched him tight, kissing his cheek. "Thank you for being my friend!"

Richie held her as best he could with one arm until she released him. She gave a snort and wiped her eyes with the heels of both palms. Richie was at a loss, his friend looked so small, so scared. And he didn't know what to say to make it better.

A cough came from behind him. Richie turned to see Tyler Creed leaning in the doorway. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah." Dee croaked. "Richie, would you give us a minute?"

Richie nodded and dropped a glare on Tyler as he headed out of the room. Tyler walked in and closed the door behind him.

"Ty..."

Before Dee could get the words out, Tyler had her pinned her to the wall by the wrists. "Vee may not be able to forbid you to kill yourself. But I can sure as hell stop you."

Deirdre's eyes tinged gold and a low rumbling warning started in her throat, moving through her chest to encompass the whole room. Fear cut through Tyler's carefully built walls of numbness and apathy, and shook him to the core. Instinctively, he released her and backed away.

"No man touches me without my permission." Dee slowly advanced on him, then surprised him by spinning her back to him and yanking the soiled T-shirt she was wearing over her head, along with her sports bra.

On the night he had pulled her out of the burning warehouse, he'd been too distracted with keeping her alive to admire all but a few of her physical charms. He was male after all. But he hadn't paid much attention to her back. Sprawling scars trailed over the taunt wall of muscles and pale skin of her back. Most of them had faded to silvery lines, but there were some with rosy jagged edges still.

Tyler's stomach twisted. Most were claw marks, that was obvious. And many of them were concentrated on her hips and shoulder blades. He knew what that meant. Someone, likely more than one someone, had tried to mount her.

She spun around, daring him to meet her gaze despite the full frontal view. Tyler managed to do it without flinching. "Every one of the creatures who gave me those scars is dead by my hand. I don't want to add you to that list. Don't get attached to me Tyler. I'm already dead. Today, tomorrow, next week, next year. It doesn't matter. What matters is saving the rest of this town."

Tyler disagreed with her, especially when he saw the tattoo encompassing a scar on her left shoulder. Another gut punch. It was a tribal tattoo of a red wolf with open jaws.

He wasn't going to lose her. Not this time. But maybe, a little finesse was called for. "What do you want me to do? Deliver more letters if you die?"

"No, I need you for if I live. You 're my insurance policy." Tension fled from Dee as she began to rapidly move around the room. She changed into a new set of clothes, slapped her duffel bag on the bed, and drew out the syringe with the two vials of liquid. She handed Tyler the syringe and the green vial.

Tyler just raised an eyebrow.

"My Wolf? That white wolf that is so precious to everyone? She's a murderer. Cold Blooded. When she takes over, I have no control over what she will do. I could switch very quickly from saving these people to killing them. That's where you come in."

"You want me to shoot you up? Because you can't control your wolf?"

"The solution is a serum derived from wolfsbane. It suppresses the Wolf, and gives the Slayer part of me full reign. She's more invested in protecting life than the Wolf."

"You can learn to control the Wolf. I can teach you. We all can. You don't need this crap!"

"There's no time Ty!" She yelled.

He looked deflated, lost. It was a rare glimpse and Dee smiled. She touched his face gently. "I wish I could get to know you. This. Whatever it is. But I can't. Even if I live, I'm leaving. I'm too dangerous here."

She kissed him gently on the lips. Tenderness. She was the only person who'd ever shown him tenderness. So he took it, allowing a moment. Then he slipped the vial and needle into his pocket. "What else do you need?"

"I need an airborne ally. Horace is dead so I need eyes in the sky."

"Okay, but how can I...?" He trailed off. Catching her meaning. "No I can't do that."

"Your Sire had a bird form, your Grandsire does too. Gangrels have the ability to shift into multiple animals when properly fuelled." Dee drew out a long dagger from her bag and used it to slice into the soft flesh of her inner arm. Blood trickled down her wrist pooling in her palm.

He gave her a look. "You don't understand. I can't do this."

"Can't or won't?" She countered. "I'm a Slayer, I know a starving vampire when I see one. You can't go back to being just a Wolf, Tyler. Neither of us can ever go back! But you can use what you are now, all of it, to help your Pack. And I can help you with that."

The intoxicating smell of her blood hit him like a ton of bricks. His jaws distended; fangs that labeled him a vampire over a wolf, descended. She was right. He'd been starving himself since San Francisco; subsisting only on a few supervised feedings under Vachon's watchful eye. Dee wasn't the only one who had an out-of-control side. But this was her own blood she was offering. She had no way to know what it meant to him. To either side of him.

Tyler took her hand. Bringing it to his lips, he lapped up the blood that had pooled there. It was electric. Unlike anything he'd ever tasted in wolf form or vampire. It filled his mouth with life and desire. He trailed his tongue up her wrist, not missing a drop until he got to the well spring.

Images began to assault him. The blood brought with it memories, fears, regrets; her whole life up to this moment, and he wanted more.

To Dee's surprise, Tyler looked up from the wound that he had lapped closed. His eyes were milky green. He caressed the side of her face, down her neck and pulled the collar of her t-shirt aside to reveal the scar on her shoulder.

"May I?"

Dee's breath hitched in her throat, gold seeped into her irises, and she nodded mutely. She felt his lips brush hers, then trail down the column of her neck. She felt the sting of his fangs on the flesh right above her scar, and the reflexive pull of his mouth. She tangled her fingers in his hair, throwing her head back. It wasn't the first time she'd been fed from. It was the first time she'd enjoyed it.

Tyler was drowning. Both in the elixir of Deirdre's blood, and the storm of her life's recollections. He slid her body back up against the wall for support, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Both holding on for dear life. Tyler saw Dee's whole life laid before him. He cried with her when her mother died. When she met Luke again. When she Flipped for the first time. And when he saw the events of the last year, he'd have fallen to his knees if he weren't holding her up.

Deirdre cried out with pleasure and agony. Something lit up in Tyler's brain. Pathways that he'd thought dried up and withered away. He could hear them again! Vivian, Donner, Ruby, the whole pack was coming back to him! His heart ached with joy. His pack! And then he felt one of them fall away; a stab in the gut.

"Luke!" Deirdre screamed.

The two of them collapsed on the floor. Dee was shaking, and Tyler had to catch his breath away from all the sensations. He looked at her, taking in the mark he'd just made, resplendent above one he'd made years ago. Life wasn't about him anymore.

"I can't feel him." She croaked. "I can't feel him anymore. DuGare is turning him."

"Then let's go kill the bastard." Tyler grinned, milky eyes glittering.

* * *

 

Deirdre stepped onto the porch of the big house alone. Her long green duster rustled familiarly around her body. She could feel Vivian's hard worried gaze through the window. But they'd agreed on this plan, and everything had been set into motion. Kill DuGare. Save Luke. Protect Sophia.

Simple.

Dee looked on the barricade of vampires that surrounded the lawn of the house and sighed. Today was as good a day as any to die.

The Slayer walked slowly down the porch steps. The vampires twitched but didn't budge. One directly in front of her smirked. "Slayeeer Come Out to Play Yaaay!"

She stopped a few feet in front of them. "Gentlemen, ladies, I'd like to have a word with your boss. But first, I'd like to see my brother."

A chuckle went up amongst the crowd. The leader spoke up. "Lukey Boy is right where you left him. You can have him. If you can get to him. But save yourself the trouble. Send out the girl, and we'll take you to the boy. DuGare will meet with you there."

"A Forsaken on Holy Ground? Excellent, let's go!" Dee baited.

The line twitched again. The leader held out a hand, stifling them back. "Give us the girl first. The White Wolf. She's the one we want."

"No dice." Slayer shook her head.

The leader smirked. "Then we get to play."

Dee slid the duster to the ground, revealing her naked body covered in tiny scratches. She could tell the moment when the scent of her blood hit their noses. "Yahtzee, bitches."

As expected the line broke for her. The vampires frenzied, slicing at each other with claws and fangs to get a piece of her. Dee fought off the first comers with her bare hands. Their mouthpiece was trying to hold back the flood, but he was no match for the scent of Slayer Blood. She caught him off guard, knocking him out and throwing his body at the tide like a shield over spikes.

Behind the line, the sound of a motorcycle revving created the planned distraction. The vamps who weren't actively killing each other, turned to watch the rider zip out behind them from the right. From the left a Golden Eagle screeched as it opened its massive wings and took to the air, in the same direction as the motorcycle. On the ground, a menagerie of wolves melted out of the shadows behind the vampires. They stood, waiting.

Deirdre took that moment to do the one thing she'd sworn never to do again. She planted a foot in the back of her vampire shield, launched herself into the air, and Flipped. Her transformation was blinding and beautiful. Her blood tinged her white fir slightly pink in the moonlight as she vaulted over the line of vampires and wolves. An emotional tremor went through the wolves on the ground at the sight of her. As her forepaws touched down in the earth on the other side of her people, a pulse of green energy traveled outward, rippling through the earth and the pack bonds alike.

Wolf Lake's final White Wolf was home.


	28. When All is Lost

For a moment, nothing happened. 

Both the wolves and the vampires were too shocked by Deirdre's Flip to move against each other. Then a howl sounded out from the porch of the big house. All eyes swiveled to the silvery blond wolf that stood on the stone steps. Vivian dove toward the front of the line while her wolves attacked from the back. The wolves of Wolf Lake's Old Guarde took the orders of their Alpha with relish, springing at the ragtag group of vampires. They tore undead flesh from bone with glee.

Dee ran after her friends. She took a route through the woods, that the Wolf magically seemed to plot as she went. Along the way she picked up a tail. A smallish tan colored female wolf with long strides. Then another, mottled gray wolf, a male. Then another, then another, until nearly half the Brat Pack was pulling up the rear.

Dee reached the clearing outside the graveyard where Sherman and Richie were waiting for her. She was pleasantly surprised that the Wolf allowed her to resume human form. She Flipped back and two of the wolves behind her followed suit. Presley and Sean melted out of the shadows in human form. The others waited.

Richie dropped a bag in front of her. "Are we doing this?"

Tyler alighted on a nearby tree branch, flapping his massive wings in agreement.

"We are." Dee confirmed. She pulled a spare set of clothes and boots out of the equipment bag on the back of Richie's bike.

"What's the plan?" Sherman asked in a dry, detached tone.

"Simple, I go in, talk with DuGare, stake his ass, and what remains of his minions."

"And where do we come in?" Sean asked.

Dee slipped into the leather pants as she spoke. "Your job is to get Luke out of there. Take out any vamps who get in your way. He's likely to be disoriented, even hostile. No telling what kind of thrall he's in. He may attack you. If he does, knock him out and get him back to Vivian. She and the sheriff can contain him until I kill DuGare and break the thrall."

"And if you fail?" Presley asked with a smirk.

Dee slipped the leather vest over her head, and stared at her hands as she fastened her katana's scabbard to her back. "If I fail it's cause I'm dead. Then your job is to carry that news to Vivian. She'll need to think up a way to kill DuGare on her own. If that doesn't work, one of you is going to haveta take Luke down. And above all, that vampire cannot get his hands on Sophia or Ruby."

The wolves of the Brat Pack balked. Sean shook his head. "Are you nuts? We can't kill Luke! He's our alpha, just as much as his mom."

Sherman offered, "Do you honestly think DuGare is laying siege to Wolf Lake just to get Sophia? He could've shown up himself at anytime to abduct her. And what about Ruby? Why would he show up now?"

When he got no response Sherman sighed. "He came for Luke. He knows that there is more than one White Wolf in this town and that Luke has a connection to all of them. More than that, Luke is the son of the Alpha. And what better way to take control of the whole pack, than to enthrall the one person with the keys to the kingdom?"

"An army." Richie offered.

Dee nodded. "An army of slaves, that he can command in the daylight. An army he can breed and control."

The implications washed over the Brat Pack members. Presley's blonde curls bounced as she nodded. "And if he gets Sophia or Ruby..."

"Then he has the rest of the ingredients he needs to walk into the daylight with you. He'll take the town, the surrounding cities, probably hook up with his other two war buddies. Then no one will be safe. His virus is telegenetic and it will spread like a plague." Dee shook her head. "The buck has got stop here with us."

Sean nodded, the rest of the wolves stepped forward in assent. "Alright. How do we do this?"

* * *

 

"You can't keep me here!" Sophia screamed at her father as he pulled her back through the window of her and Dee's bedroom. She'd locked Matt out and planned on sneaking out after he'd forbidden her to leave the house. Apparently the lock left something to be desired.

"Yes, I can." Matt replied earnestly, pulling her by the arm back into the room.

"Luke is out there! Dee is out there! The rest of the fucking Pack is out there, fighting the vampires, and you want me to just sit here like a princess in a tower?"

Matt sighed. "It's what is needed Sophia. I don't expect you to understand.."

"What? That you're a coward? Or that you want me to be one too?"

'Young lady!" Matt scowled at her, giving her the full on 'Dad Face'.

Sophia scowled right back. "Just because you don't Flip. Just because you don't fight, doesn't mean I can't. Dee taught me how."

"I'm sure she did." Matt replied sarcastically. "But this isn't about you or me. If DuGare gets his hands on you or Ruby, it's all over for the pack. You've gotta trust me on this Soph."

"So what about Ruby?" Sophia crossed her arms over her chest.

Matt relaxed his stance a bit. "She's on her way. John is bringing her from the station. When she gets here, the two of you will head down to the panic room, while he and I guard the house."

Sophia gave him a look like she was about to throw up. Matt stroked her hair like he used to do when she was small. "I know you don't like this. And despite what you may think, I'm not comfortable sitting this one out either. Leaving Vivian and Luke out there is not my first choice. But it is the best one, if we want to do what is best for the Pack and the ones we love. Okay?"

Sophia nodded reluctantly. Matt pressed a kiss to her forehead, then turned to shut the window against the noises of the battle happening all around the house. He sighed as he did so.

The last thought he had before his loving daughter hit him over the back of the head with a battle axe, was that the wolves were winning.

* * *

 

Ruby Cates jumped out of John's SUV with practiced ease as it sped through the gates of what had once been her father's house, plowing over four vampires. She hit the ground running into the house, and jumped over the lines of sesame seeds Dee had scattered for security against the vampires. Most of them couldn't enter without an invitation, but the ones that could would need to count the seeds before stepping over the threshold.

"Matt?" She yelled. "Sophia?"

She listened for an answer, but by the time John found her and locked the door behind them, she was already halfway up the stairs. She found Matt Donner sprawled across the floor of her old bedroom groaning.

"What happened, Sheriff?" John asked as he and Ruby helped his boss to his feet.

Matt shook his head to clear it, and looked around the room in horror. "Where's Sophia?"

A scream answered him from the open window. The three of them ran to it. Sophia was being dragged away, kicking and screaming by half a dozen vampires. She was cursing up a storm and managed to kill a few of her attackers with the swipe of her claws, but she was no match for their numbers.

"Sophia!" he screamed.

"Daddy!" She got out one last scream before she was knocked out and dragged into the woods.

Matt spun on his heel and began to remove his uniform shirt.

"What's the plan sheriff?" John asked.

"You two do what you need to do." Matt replied, eyes blazing gold. "I'm going to get my daughter."

As he walked out, John spun to see Ruby disrobing as well. "So to hell with the panic room scenario?"

"If they have Luke and Sophia, it doesn't matter if they get me. Matt hasn't Flipped in fourteen years, John. He's going to need all the help he can get."

John shrugged and reached for the buckle of his belt.

* * *

 

Deirdre walked into the cemetery alone. She could feel a presence in the air that was somewhere between death and agony. If she listened closely, she could hear a hum through the trees that sounded like the screams of a thousand voices. They were in pain, and they needed her. But whatever they were, they'd have to wait. She had bigger fish to fry.

She sniffed the dank air, and followed the stench of rotting flesh to its source. Louis DuGare had been a tall man when he'd been human, the strapping son of a Marquis. That was before he'd gone off to seek his fortune in the Crusades. In this day and age, he would be considered short, but he still retained his haughtiness and his looks. Cool blue eyes stared out at Deirdre from the face of an angel, as she approached.

"Well, well." DuGare purred. He'd done a good job of losing his Norman accent over the centuries, but it still peaked out from time to time. "It's good to see you Slayer. The last time I saw you was in what, Romania?"

"Bucharest." She supplied.

She drew out her katana and started away from the trees. Hate filled her heart and gave her strength. Hewas sitting atop a tombstone labeled "Amanda Cates" looking like the cat who ate the canary. She couldn't see any one else, but she could feel them. The vampires had taken to the trees. No doubt to strike when ordered. She couldn't sense Luke among them.

"Ah yes," he grinned. "You were in a cage. Funny how she never told you about that, eh my lad?"

By the time she heard the thump of feet on the ground behind her. It was too late. She felt a sharp stab of pain in her back. Dee looked down to see a wrought iron fence spike protruding from her abdomen. The Slayer in her had been trained to sense the vampires, but the Wolf hadn't recognized the threat of her own brother. Luke pulled her back against him to whisper in her ear. "Welcome home, little sister. I'm sorry you can't stay."

Dee fell to her knees as Luke pushed the spike into the ground. All hell broke loose around them. Vampires dropped from trees behind her as she saw wolves race toward her. She could hear shots firing in rapid succesion. Sherman had brought his hunting rifle. DuGare hopped off the tombstone among the chaos. He sauntered toward her like he hadn't a care in the world, and knelt down.

"You see Slayer? I win." DuGare smiled, caressing her face. "The flesh of a Slayer, the yolk of an unborn crusader, and the blood of a White Wolf. I'll have the last ingredient tonight. And you gave me all of them. Even your Pack. Too bad you won't live to see the beautiful destruction you have wrought."

Just before the pain made her pass out, Dee saw DuGare turn on his heel and beckon to Luke. Her brother spared her a cool passing glance before following his master in the direction of the town.


	29. Impalement Sucks

Matt Donner was home. 

He hit the woods on four paws for the first time in nearly a decade and a half, and it was glorious. Every sense was alive. His dark brown coat fluttered with the wind. The forest greeted him like an old lover. And he was running with packmates.

Ruby and John brought up the rear in their off-set black and white raced in Sophia's direction, passing the old teen graveyard as they went. Matt heard the anguished cry of a raptor and hesitated. He had seen Tyler transform into the Golden Eagle, and he knew in his gut that the battle in the cemetery was not going as planned.

 _Go!_ , Ruby told him over the pack bonds that were music in his head. _I'll find out what is going on with my siblings. John, you go with him._

John whimpered at her, but she nuzzled his black coat. _Sophia is the priority now. Go!_

When Ruby entered the graveyard, her heart sank. Bodies of wolves and vampires alike lay crumpled to the ground. This had always been a place of solace for her. But now she could feel the anguish in the air. At the center of it all, she found the Golden Eagle ripping the guts out of a disintegrating vampire body. It was like the old painting of Prometheus on the mountain top, that hung in her father's study.

As she approached, the eagle squawked at her, poising to strike. He alighted on the tombstone of her twin sister Amanda, and that's when Ruby saw Dee. Her younger sister lay crumpled to the ground with an iron spike still protruding through her stomach.

Ruby transformed, leaving behind her coveted white pelt. "Tyler? What happened?"

Tyler screeched again and fluttered to the ground. He shifted back into human form, retaining the clothes on his back, unlike her. He fell to his knees behind Dee and lifted her head into his lap.

"Tyler!"

He blinked at Ruby, clearly disoriented. "Sherman and Richie, the others. They went after Luke. But I...I couldn't leave her."

Deirdre's breath was coming in ragged gasps. Her torso was bent to the side over Tyler's lap. Tyler reached to remove the iron spike, but Dee pulled his hands away. Ruby knelt down beside them and caressed the side of Dee's face. The Slayer's eyes shot open.

"It's my fault." She muttered weekly. Her body shook but Tyler held her as best he could.

"What is, sweety?" Ruby caressed her sister's face, knowing there was nothing that she could do to help her.

"Luke..." Dee coughed. "The Pack. They're in danger. I couldn't stop it."

"Shhh." Ruby crooned. "We will stop DuGare. Don't worry. Just rest."

Dee coughed, blood spilled out of her mouth. "Not just DuGare. They know about me. All of them...Know what I am. I have to die here. But DuGare has to die first or Luke will never be..."

Dee's eyes hovered shut and she stilled. Ruby checked for a pulse but couldn't find one. Tyler shook Deirdre. "You can't die on me Dee! Not again!"

He turned to Ruby, growling. "Damnit Ruby, go for help! Help her!"

Ruby's heart ached. For the first time in a very long time, Ruby saw the boy in him that Tyler had been. When they had been young and wild, she had once thought the world of him. And despite everything he had done to her, she once again felt the stirrings of compassion for Tyler Creed.

"She's gone, Tyler. Let her rest. There's still a fight to be fought. The Pack needs us."

"Your Pack needs you."

"Our Pack needs us." She insisted. "Who else but you can climb in the heads of a mob of vampires?"

"I can't leave her!" He caressed Dee's face. She was still warm. "She was to be mine. We were to be together."

Ruby reached out a hand and placed it tentatively on his shoulder. "What would Deirdre want you to do? Sit here mourning her while the town burns? Or go out and gut the bastard who did this to her?"

Tyler looked up at her with fierce jade eyes. He snarled. Ruby rocked back on her heels with the ripple of terror he sent her way.

He placed a tender kiss on Deirdre's lips, then rolled her gently onto her side facing Ruby. Ruby kissed her little sister's forehead, and they both rose to their feet. Tyler raised his arms to the sky, and his body collapsed in a flash, revealing the Golden Eagle. It flapped it's wings as Ruby Flipped into wolf form and the two creatures headed toward the town.

When they were gone, a green mist began to fill the graveyard. It rose from the graves and seeped out of the trees. It rose in spires in the air that formed into vague figures. Somewhere between wolf and human; there were dozens of them, maybe hundreds. They stood, silent, waiting. The wind whistled through the trees like a call.

Deirdre's blood dripped down into the earth; an invitation. The green mist seeped into her limp body, speeding up her heart, which had slowed to barely beating. No quite dead. Not quite alive. She took in a gasping, screaming breath in, and sat up.

The figures in the mist wavered, urging for something.

"Yes." Deirdre whispered in answer to their unspoken question. "One last dance. Then I rest with Her."

Dee opened her mouth to gasp and the mist raced in, filling her. Her eyes lit up green and she rose to her feet like a marionette. She cocked her head. Looking down, she gripped the iron spike and drew it with a sick squelching sound out of her body. She didn't flinch, just put one foot in front of the other in the direction of town.

* * *

 

Vivian and Matt reached town at roughly the same time. The streets of Wolf Lake were littered with bodies. While the sheriff's office had managed to evacuate a good portion of the humans and sequestered the Wolven mothers with small children to their homes for safety, too many had slipped through the cracks.

Overwhelmingly, the bodies were those of wolves in human form. The human residents of Wolf Lake, who operated largely as second class citizens, were mysteriously missing from the casualties. The bodies led straight to the town church.

The blond wolf and the brown met in the center of town, with the Old Guarde bringing up the rear. Vivian had felt the moment that her daughter was downed, and had elected to abandon the fight at the big house. It had been an easy retreat. The vampires on her front lawn had been decimated by her packmates. Matt melted out of the forest with John at his back. The wolves rallied at the center of town.

Sherman and Richie busted out the door of the hardware store, brandishing stakes, blades and guns, to meet the wolves in the center of town. Shortly after, what was left of the Brat Pack came limping out of the woods to the East. They had suffered losses in their battle with DuGare's minions; Aiden, Melody, and Rhianna among them. But they were still at least thirty strong and ready to fight alongside their parents. Presley led them, with Sean bringing up the rear.

"So what's the plan, Vee?" Sherman asked the blond wolf.

She Flipped back into human form. Matt joined her. She looked to the tan wolf before responding. Presley had a badly broken wrist but she still managed the change. She stood panting and naked before her alpha. "Dee's gone. Luke stabbed her, right in front of us. DuGare has him in a thrall, and I don't... Dee said the only way to save him is to kill DuGare. And if we can't..."

"To kill Luke." Vivian nodded solemnly. She put a hand on Presley's shoulder. "You did well. All of you did."

Presley nodded and Flipped back to Wolf. She joined her parents; the other Brat Pack members following suit. Matt put a hand on Vivian's shoulder. "Vee, what do you want us to do?"

Vivian looked around at her people. The wolves stood waiting for her decision. She looked on the faces around her. Matt, her former lover; Sherman, who had guided her all her life; and Richie, the only friend of her daughter's that she had ever met. She sighed.

"Now, we go after our children." Vivian gripped Matt's hand. "The rest of you, my friends, I cherish you. I must once more ask for your help. If we do not make it out of this alive, those of you that do survive, know that it has been a privilege to walk alongside you."

As one, they walked up to the Church of the Everchanging God. Surrounding the church were at least twenty vampires of all different species. They parted slightly, allowing Vivian and Matt to walk through the open door of the church. As soon as they had, the vampires closed ranks, turning on the wolves outside.

The oak door of the church slammed shut behind them, causing Vivian's heart to drop. Matt steadied her.

The church had services every Sunday for the wolves, based on a religion cobbled together over centuries, derived as much from Norse, Celtic, and Native American paganism and shamanism as any Christian religion. Still, it's architecture reflected Christian influences. All the better to fool outsiders. But the vampires lining the pews weren't fooled at all. This may have been Holy Ground to it's patrons, but without a profusion of crosses, the enemy wasn't even breaking a sweat.

At the front of the church, DuGare stood dressed in a flowing shirt and leather pants, like some kind of anti-priest. Luke stood to his right, face lax of all emotion. To his left stood Miranda Rhodes, the lounge singer who had been Matt's friend for both sported red bite marks on their necks. And on the altar lay Sophia Donner, unconscious and trussed like a chicken.

"Ah, if it isn't the guests of the hour." DuGare drawled smoothly. "Mother. Father. Beloved Elders."

Vivian and Matt walked down the aisle of the church together, nude and exposed under the watchful eyes of the enemy. They stopped at the steps that led to the altar. Vivian looked at her son, the last of her children.

"Lucas, can you hear me?" Vivian said evenly. "It's me. Mom."

Luke just nodded at her dispassionately. DuGare grinned. "He's mine, sadly. But you can have him back if you like. For a price."

Tears ran down the sides of Vivian's face. She felt for the connections with her children, and found them severed. "You steal my son's soul, and the life of my daughter. And you imagine I will bow to you?"

"Yes." DuGare smiled. "Because you don't have another option. But just to prove I'm a fair sort of fellow, I'll sweeten the deal. I'll give you Sophia."

Vivian felt Matt shift beside her anxiously. DuGare's grin grew. "Yes. I don't need all of her blood for the spell. Just a few drops, then you can have both your children, with my blessing. Free and clear."

Matt stepped up, every muscle in him ready to pounce; enemies at his back be damned. "And in exchange?"

"A kiss from your lady." DuGare smiled. "One kiss, and you can have your children back."

For a moment, no one moved. Then, DuGare held out a hand to Vivian. Her heart ached, and Matt watched as she took the vampire's hand. She turned to him with tearful eyes. "I'm sorry."

Everything moved in slow motion. DuGare's lips closed over Vivian's throat. Matt reached to stop it, but suddenly his senses slowed. Lethargy spread out over the pack bonds like molasses. Matt was fixed in place, his will was held in place by black tar that spread out from Vivian to him and on to encompass the whole pack.


	30. Just You and The Reaper

Sherman Blackstone knew the moment it happened. He knew the moment his Pack fell and all was lost. 

It was the same moment when all the vampires on the outside of the church fell under their claws and fangs. Somehow, after they had achieved that hard won victory, the wolves froze. They didn't move toward the door of the church as expected, but instead spun around to face Sherman.

Richie Ryan, who'd been wielding his sword with impunity, had just decapitated a particularly nasty looking Nosferatu son of a bitch. Sherman noted his face as Richie realized the turning of the tide. Vivian had fallen. The Alpha was compromised, and the Pack was at the mercy of DuGare.

Ruby jumped out of the brush, followed overhead by Tyler's golden form in the night sky. Dawn was approaching. But Sherman knew, in the moment that John Canin took hold of Ruby to keep her from walking into the church, that the sunrise would come too late.

"John!" Ruby screamed. She struggled against her beloved, but his zombie-like eyes were intractable.

Tyler flew toward the door, but the wolves leaped for him. He was forced to shift back into human form. Then the wolves overwhelmed him. His pleas over his newly minted Pack bonds fell on deaf ears. He was quickly covered under a pile of wolves.

Watching the scene in horror, Richie turned to Sherman, breathing heavy and nursing rapidly healing wounds to his ribs. "What now?"

Sherman was about to suggest they flee to his house to regroup. For once, in all the centuries that he had watched and protected the Wolf Lake Pack, he was at a loss as to what to do. But then, a light shined in the darkness. A green mist preceded the Slayer, taken for lost, as she emerged behind them.

Deirdre past them, walked down the street in bare feet, trailing the mist. She was still bleeding from the puncture wound in her abdomen. She held her katana in one hand, and the iron spike that had impaled her in the other. Dee barely acknowledged Richie or Sherman as she approached. But the image of his granddaughter covered in blood, with glowing green eyes, would haunt Sherman Blackstone to the rest of his days.

"Dee?" Richie gasped.

She spared her friend a brief glance, and a knowing smile before turning to the line of snarling, possessed wolves. Ruby screamed for her, struggling against John's grip as he growled.

"Hush." Dee ordered in a clear, but barely audible voice. "Rest!"

As one, the line of wolves collapsed, like puppets with their strings cut. John released Ruby, crumpling to the ground in a deep sleep alongside his packmates. Dee spared her sister a brief look.

Ruby reached out to her. "Deirdre?"

"Stay," Dee responded. "Heal them."

Something pulled at Ruby's gut, she didn't know why, but she nodded. Deirdre marched up the steps of the church. She lifted her leg high and kicked open the hardwood door with the force of a jack hammer.

* * *

 

Sophia was in darkness. She could hear DuGare speaking with Vivian. And she could hear her Dad. But she couldn't make out the words.

Something inside her was pulling her farther into the darkness. But then her mind felt a brush, the slightest feather touch. "Dee?"

In her mind's eye, Sophia could see Deirdre standing before her in the same flowing white dress from her dream. Dee's eyes were aglow with green light. "Sophia, you have to wake up!"

"I'm afraid." Sophia quivered.

Deirdre smiled. "I know you are. So am I. But our fear doesn't matter. This is that moment, Sophia. When your back's against the wall."

"And there's nothing left but you and The Reaper." Sophia nodded. "I remember. So what do I do?"

"I don't know." Dee replied. "That's entirely up to you. But here's what I'm going to do..."

* * *

 

"Wake up, my dear. Your public awaits." DuGare crooned

Sophia opened her eyes to see his simpering face smiling above her. Her hands were bound, but he helped her sit up. Around her stood Lucas, Matt, and Vivian in close formation. "Luke? Daddy?"

No answer. Sophia was on her own. For the moment, they all stood like statues; looking at her with hollow eyes.

DuGare took her bound hands and pinned them above her head. Miranda Devereux, who had been a family friend since Sophia was a child, held her down. She could hear the Forsaken murmuring words of prayer and supplication. Then, DuGare cut her.

Sophia was helpless, utterly bereft. DuGare ran the dagger along several minor blood vessels, spilling blood, but not too much. Miranda collected the blood in a golden chalice, and delivered it to her master. DuGare poured it into a cauldron laid on the sacrament table behind him.

"These rituals are so tedious." DuGare said congenially. "Always, they must be done in the right order. The right words must be said, the right actions observed. It's a colossal pain in the ass, if you ask me. But, to make an omelet, you must break a few eggs."

To Sophia's blood, he added the yellowy gelatinous contents of a test tube, and a baggie full of what looked like beef jerky in barbeque sauce. DuGare smiled at Sophia. "Waste not. Want not."

_Bang!_

The force of the blow to the door echoed throughout the church.

_Bang!_

On the third blow, the oak door swung open, revealing a very pissed off Deirdre Pierson in the doorway. The Slayer still held a sword in one hand and a steel fence spike in the other. DuGare stepped out from behind the altar.

"Persistent, aren't you little one? You get a lickin' but you just keep tickin'. Is that it?" DuGare chuckled. The vampires rose from the pews en masse.

Deidre raised the iron spike over her head and hurled it toward DuGare. It flew past him, embedding itself in the altar just below Sophia's head. DuGare laughed even harder. "Oh Slayer. You're slipping! It's a sad thing to see one such as you succumb to old age."

"You have set foot upon our sanctuary." Deirdre said. Her voice was eerie, echoey, like there were others speaking with her. "Be gone. Or you will suffer the consequences."

"You're threatening me?" DuGare cried incredulously. "You're washed up! You even missed your first shot!"

"Did I?"

"Get her!" DuGare shouted.

The vampires lept at the chance, literally. They vaulted over the pews and set upon the Slayer. She slashed at them with sword and claws, rending them limb from limb. DuGare saw the first rays of sunrise glimmering through the stained glass windows of the church and sighed. "I'm sorry, my dear. But it looks like I must get on with it."

He was turning back to the altar, when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. The ancient vampire looked down to see the iron spike protruding from his heart. On the other end was Sophia Donner. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Really? You think you can defeat me? Some skinny whelp of a girl?"

DuGare grabbed for the spike, but it was Sophia's turn to smile. She grabbed the chalice off the table behind her, and threw it as hard as she could at the church's stained glass window behind her. Sunlight spilled in. As the glass came shattering down, Luke, Vivian, Matt, and Miranda all lunged for Sophia. But they were too late.

DuGare screamed as the sunlight hit him.

"Yeah, asshole. Me." Sophia breathed deep. Then she collapsed under the weight of her pack members.

The next few moments went by in a blur. DuGare erupted into flames, as did most of the vampires. Sophia could see Richie, Ruby and Sherman enter the church. They fought their way through the hordes that were left, pulling them off of Deirdre and staking or decapitating the vamps at will. Sophia vaguely registered Tyler flying in, then returning to human form. He ripped into the vampires with his own fangs, in an effort to get to Deirdre.

After DuGare was reduced to ashes, Luke, Vivian, and Matt released Sophia, looking confused and disoriented. Miranda crumpled into a pile of dust. 

The wolves of the Old Guarde and Brat Pack were flooding into the church, which had sheltered them so many times. Sophia heard a male voice cry from the center of the church. Tyler had finally uncovered Deirdre.

"Dee?" Luke croaked falling to his knees.

In the center of the aisle, beneath a pile of ashes and severed vampire limbs, The Slayer lay. Her eyes were wide and vacant, and her blood seeped out over the marble floor.

* * *

 

_**San Francisco, California 2004** _

Paige Matthews sat at the parlor table, her chin laying on one hand. Her cousin grabbed a glass of water that Tyler was handing her. Deirdre drank it down in greedy gulps, but made no move to continue.

"Wait." Paige breathed incredulously. "That's the end? That can't be the end. That cannot be the end of your story!"

Dee raised an eyebrow at her. "Of course not. If it ended there, I'd be dead and unable to tell it to you."

Paige chuckled, relieved. Phoebe sighed. "Okay, I get all that. And I get how you ended up with him."

She pointed to Tyler, who nodded at the middle Halliwell sister in acknowledgement. Phoebe smiled. He was sufficiently charming enough to grow on her. She shook herself. "But what I don't get is why you're here. I mean, I love you Deedee, and you're always welcome to stop by for a visit. But something is telling me that this isn't a social call?"

Tyler snorted. "Not hardly."

Deirdre was staring out the window. "It's almost sunset. They'll be here soon."

Her worried tone gave Piper pause. "Who? Who will be here soon?"

Dee shot her cousin a contrite look. "The Blood Hunt. I never really did make friends with the Kindred in this city again."

"You're bringing vampires here?" Piper shouted. "I have a toddler upstairs!"

Deirdre collapsed on the sofa, grimacing. She put her hand to her belly and took a long breath through her nose. "Piper, if there was anyway of getting around this, I would've taken it. But the truth is that we need you. You and your sisters. These babies are coming into the world soon, and I won't leave them unprotected."

"Babies?" Paige perked up. "Did you say babies?"

"Twins." Tyler confirmed. "We were hoping you ladies would consent to being the godmothers."

"Awww." Phoebe put a hand to her chest. "That's so sweet!"

"Uh huh." Piper grunted. "Very sweet. But what are you really doing here? You both knew Deirdre's life would be in danger if you came back to San Francisco. So why do it now?"

Dee cried out, as if on cue. She moved a hand to her back and began taking lamaze style breaths. Tyler rushed to her side. She grabbed his hand in a death grip while a contraction washed over her. She screamed through gritted teeth. "Where the hell is Vivian?"

"Angel Island is still an island, babe." Tyler offered. "If anyone can bring him, your Mom can."

"Excuse me." Phoebe raised a hand. "Bring who?"

Deirdre ignored her cousin in favor of her husband. "I'm not doing this again without him, Ty. Once was enough."

"You want me to go get him myself?" Tyler asked fiercely. "I will. I'll drag the sonofabitch back here by his nuts if I have to."

"No." Dee shook her head. She tipped it back on the edge of the sofa and breathed rapidly. "You are not going out there. Cash will kill you if he sees you. Luna will know you're here with me. I can't lose you. I need you both!"

"Guys!" Paige waved a hand at the couple to get their attention. "You want to clue in the rest of the family? Who is coming here?"

Tyler hesitated, but Dee nodded at him, through her lamaze breathing. "Nick Boyle. Of the Luna Foundation? He's our other Mate."

"I'm sorry, " Piper scoffed. "Your other what?"

"Our other Mate!" Deirdre ground out. "Yes ladies, you heard him right. I'm having two children by two separate fathers. One of whom has been incommunicado for two months. And I will not have these babies without both of them present. So we have come to San Francisco to seek him out. In the meantime, I would really really appreciate your help fending off the vampires, who would like very much to kill my whole family. Alright? Questions? Comments? Criticisms? Take your best shot. I'm wide open."

Dee's voice had reached such a shrill tone by the end of her tirade that it was several beats before anyone spoke. Paige raised a tentative hand. Her sisters looked ready to kill her, but she spoke all the same.

"I have a question." Paige offered. "What's the Luna Foundation?"

**The End...for now.**


End file.
